Season of the Witch
by DylantheRabbit
Summary: Two powerful and temperamental witches will forge a new Britain, But first the old one has to burn. Volume 2 of the Cassandra Evans story. Lots of intrigue, plotting and murderous adventure with a good deal of romance along the way. Dark FemHarry, FemVoldemort and of course Femslash as always.
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome back to the strange and silent world of Cassandra Evans-Black. Not just on time, but actually earlier than promised. Shocked? I know that I am.**

 **To those of you stumbling on this story for the first time my apologies. It's going to make little to no sense to you unless you've read the first volume, The Silent World of Casandra Evans. If you want to know what's going on and why these odd people are being as weird as they are then read that first. If you don't care and just want to have some good old fashioned AU fun then crack on.**

 **I have the first three chapters done and ready to go and a vague plan in place for where I want this story to end up ... but ...**

 **This fic needs YOU!**

 **If you have ideas, suggestions or want to see something happen then put it in a review or give me a PM. As you have seen in Silent World I am more than happy to adapt it as we go if I find something that you've suggested helpful, useful or just plain amusing.**

 **As suggested by the ever helpful VonPelt we will be kicking things off with a couple of chapters of mainly fluffy goodness before getting back to our more usual dark and dangerous path. There's going to be lots of intrigue, plots and menace in this year ... and of course ... murder. First though. Shopping.**

 **Enjoy.**

 **I still don't own Harry Potter otherwise I'd be writing all day instead of working to pay the bills.**

 **Dylan the Rabbit. xx**

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 **Season of The Witch.**

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 **1\. Handbags and Gladrags.**

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The portrait of Walburga Black watched from her place of honour on the sitting room wall of Twelve Grimmuald Place as her descendants, natural and blood adopted alike, took their morning coffee and discussed their plans for the day. Well some of them discussed it. The old matriarch of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black smiled indulently as her blood adopted grand-daughter leaned back in her high backed armchair and regarded her family with those cold, creepy, killer's eyes. Cassandra Evans-Black the not quite fifteen year old de-facto head of the family peered over her dark rimless glasses, gave a shark like grin and winked at her grandma Walburga. It gave even the formidable old dark witch in the painting pause and she could not imagine what it did to the girl's enemies.

Actually she didn't have to imagine it. The whole of the wizarding world had seen the pictures from last year's Tri-Wizard Tournament when she had become the under-dog and unexpected fourth champion. Cassie, as she liked to be called, had then taken the dangerous contest by the throat and displayed the kind of power, grace and murderous will that made men weak at the knees and had the girls wetting their knickers. 'The Black Witch' as she was now known in the press had become the dangerous darling of wizarding Britain. The mystery of her mutism, the horrific scars, the incredible tattoos, her preference for short and tight in the clothing department which showed these last two off to great advantage, even her unabashedly 'out' lesbianism. It all just made her legend stronger. Everyone wanted to be her or to be with her.

All Cassie herself wanted to do right now was to take her new sisters shopping.

The relative mid morning peace of Diagon Alley was spectacularly shattered this late July Saturday Morning when the group of five young witches, clad in robes the colour of midnight burst through the magical barrier and into the strengthening sunlight. They strode down the cobbled street five abreast and arm in arm scattering the early shoppers and inquisitve stall traders from their path. The newly minted Black sisters were going shopping and the whole of the Alley was excited and apprehensive about what would happen.

The shop keepers of the magical shopping district were torn between being afraid of the approach to their establishments of the black clad young witches and rubbing their hands together with glee. Most of them remembered the previous incarnation of the Black sisters and the all out chaos that Narcissa, Andromeda and Bellatrix had caused on their frequent shopping trips was only out-done by the obscene amounts of gold that they had spent. Still none of those girls were quite as famously violent as Cassandra Evans-Black. It was true, of course, that Bellatrix had been rather bad tempered and a bit too quick with her wand on occasion but she at least hadn't managed to kill people while still at school like Cassie had. The new Black heiress' body count was impressive for a twenty year auror let alone a short, fifteen year old school girl. In the end, however, avarice won out and the proprietors and their nervous staff welcomed them in with open arms.

The first to have to deal with this phenomenon was Twilfoot and Tattings where things were almost, but not quite, civilised until the arrival of the rest of the Freaks and the squealing and screaming that this seemed to prompt. The influence of an over excited Luna Lovegood on the younger girls in particular was the match that sparked the flame of mayhem that was encouraged and then fanned into an inferno by a smirking Cassie. With the matching colours that they selected for their bridesmaids dresses it could almost be considered a uniform if it weren't for the subtle differences in design and the amount of material used. It wasn't a conscious decision by any of them. If asked they would all say pretty much the same thing, that it was Cassie's favourite colour and that they wanted to look good for their sister/friend/leader. And it certainly made for a striking appearance as the nine black clad witches strode, skipped and in Luna's case hopped like a bunny along the paved section of the alley towards the Ice Cream Parlour.

"Hello Mister Fortescue"

Florian Fortescue beamed at the arrival of this rather famous group of young witches welcoming them in with alacrity but then he was considered rather strange among the adult section of the wizarding community. I mean what kind of grown man spent his life making and selling ice cream. Not that any of these mature folks seemed to be able to pass his Diagon Alley shop by without wanting to find out just how tasty his latest iced confection was mind you. It was a little remembered fact, due to his advanced age, that he had been one of the finest potioneers that the grand old Hogwart's house of Slytherin had ever produced. And there was his where his genius lay. The cunning old confectioner had, for many decades, been lacing his desserts with highly addictive (and highly illegal) potions of his own making in order to garner long lasting repeat and year round business for his shop. He was worth almost as much as Cassie by now.

The elderly proprietor with the kind eyes and devious mind smiled at his latest customers with real pleasure and insisted on treating these wealthy and influential new patrons to his newest line free of charge. There was no greater advert at the moment than having the most famous and idolised young witch in the country and her family and friends sitting outside his shop remarking on how magnificent his wares were.

After they had eaten their fill they indulged in a small but vicious food fight which required a laughing Cassie to go around cleaning them all up with her wandless scourgifys until she reached her girlfriend Susan. At which point she pinned the embarrassed red head to the chair by straddling her and had simply used her wicked little forked tongue to lick the sweet, sticky cream from her face. Much to the amusement of everybody who wasn't currently Miss Susan Bones. This task completed she waved a cheery and heartfelt goodbye to Mister Fortescue before leading the sated little witches off to the pet shop to look around for a post owl/familiar for her smallest (and most favourite) Hogwarts house mate. That this ended up being a very intelligent looking and very bad tempered raven surprised no-one in their group. Like the rest of them Cerys Williams had hidden depths.

Their important task accomplished they split up again only this time along age lines, the five younger girls leaving for the Black residence at Twelve Grimmuald Place while the four others headed off to the Leaky Cauldron. Upon reaching the grimy pub they had a fortifying glass of butterbeer each while shedding their outer robes to reveal spectacularly scandalous muggle clothes hidden away beneath. Cassie was in her habitual very tight leather trousers, combat boots and a vest top and on the others' insistance a light, black jacket, Susan and Charli favoured blue jeans and T-shirts while Hermione was looking very pretty and girly in her short, yellow sundress. There was total stunned silence from the patrons as they gave the shapeless wizarding robes to a hastily summoned Winky for her to take home for them. Conversation didn't start again until they were on her way out of the pub and onto the streets of muggle London only to stop abruptly as Cassie poked her head back in and gave them all a little wave and a bright smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

Twenty minutes and one very exciting (for Susan and Charli anyway) bus ride later and they were all stood gazing in wonder at the entrance to a shop with sumptuous curtained windows and a bright pink neon sign. Hermione bustled them all inside and their wonder gave way to awe.

"Who exactly is this Ann Summers and why does she have her own shop."

"It's a ... ummm ... _specialist_ shop ... for girls."

Cassie, Susan and Charli all knew something was up as Hermione was flicking her eyes around and hopping slightly from one foot to the other, which she only did when she was nervous or embarrassed. Even knowing that their bushy haired friend was up to some kind of mischief, none of them were quite prepared for the sight that greeted them when they walked further inside.

"This is a ... _sex shop_." The way that Susan Bones whispered the offending word and gave it air quotes reminded Hermione so much of her determinedly middle class mother that she nearly burst out laughing before giving her justification of their visit.

"It's not a sex shop it's a women's intimate emporium."

The sales assistant who had spied the small group of pretty teenagers walking in giggled into her hand at their mostly shocked reactions before making her way over to them. It was abundantly clear to her that they were all under eighteen but as it was a slow day and the manageress was away today she decided to help them anyway. Especially since the one with the startling emerald green eyes was so stunningly beautiful that she could very well be a model. Kate Moss had been younger than this when she had started in the fashion world and there was no way that she was letting this and any future possible commissions go if the gorgeous young woman did turn to be the next 'London look' supermodel. Her opinon soon changed as the girl shrugged out of her jacket and she saw the large and stunning tattoos that shimmered in front of her eyes and almost seemed to move. Not a model then. More like a rock star. Addressing the most sensible and responsible looking one with the bushy brown hair she asked.

"Was there something that I can help you with ladies?"

"Um yes. Do you think we could see your ... _downstairs_ items."

The three girls who were not conversant with this 'women's intimate emporium' were dreadfully confused as they were led not down some stairs as they were expecting but through a beaded curtain and into a large back room. A back room that was full of strangely shaped plastic things that none of them were exactly familiar with. Even Cassie who had access to her dad's vast array of smutty books and Charli who was a connoisseur and avid reader of 'Witches in Heat' magazine were stumped as the wizarding world was far, far behind the muggle one in terms of sexual enlightenment. And things like sex toys were almost unheard of. The girls set about discovering this fascinating and brave new world with extreme enthusiasm and purpose.

"What the feckin' feck is a _rampant rabbit_."

Cassie and Susan were poking about in the 'clothing' section when they heard the Irish girl's exclamation and drifted over to her in order to hear the shop assistant give her a slightly more than standard sales pitch for one of their top selling items. They smirked at the dark and dangerous expression that flitted across Hermione's face as her girlfriend was given an extremely thorough over the clothes demonstration of how to use it which still left Charli red faced and squirming. After this a very interested Susan Bones dumped the collection of silky, shiny and most worryingly furry and feathery 'play wear' into Cassie's arms, collared the assistant and dragged her off requesting more information on the various 'toys' on display.

"I think you're fucked."

Raising one eyebrow at her sister's brilliant observation Cassie smiled serenely and pointed behind her to where the clearly still grumpy 'Mistress of Pain' Hermione Granger was swishing a whip violently around and eyeing up a display of collars, straps and gags. She moved her hands to quickly sign out.

 **I'm sorry sister dear, who did you say was fucked?**

There was a heavy sigh and a muttered expletive as Charli's eyes followed her emerald eyed sibling's extended finger to it's bushy haired, brunette, target and her head dropped in resignation and defeat. Hermione Granger, the shy, sweet and bookish young woman who she had fallen completely and utterly head over heels in love with within about thirty seconds of meeting her, had turned out to be a massive pervert with a penchant for pain. Not that Charli minded that too much. Being disciplined by her super intelligent, super sexy girlfriend had quickly become one of her favourite past-times. Yeah and she called Hermione a pervert. Seeing Cassie watching her closely with an amused expression on her gorgeous face prompted her to poke her tongue out and say.

"Oh like you can bloody talk."

The two sisters sniggered at each other and tuned in to Susan just as the red head pointed at Cass and embarrassingly proclaimed her the 'cunnilingus queen' while admitting that the two of them had never used anything larger than fingers on each other. The embarrassment and fascination continued unabated for another hour before the four girls hurried back to the magical district weighed down by a huge number of plain brown bags, desperate to go through and perhaps even try out some of their fun new purchases.

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Rather than use the Head of House's private study, which he hated, Lord Sirius Black had decided to get the RSVP's for his upcoming wedding sorted out and written at the kitchen table. He and Remus Lupin were for once, however, being extremely careful. Getting the smallest of imperfections on any one of these invitation cards would result in some properly upset females in Twelve Grimmuald Place, all of whom were willing and able to give him a great deal of serious punishment. As Sirius had learned to his cost over the last year, you really didn't want to piss off any of the women in his life unless you were a very big fan of pain and humiliation. So yes, careful was definitely the order of the day.

"Okay so read me back what we've got so far."

"Right; Lovegoods, Williams, Jones, Diggorys, Tonks, Delacours, Fudge ... and Malfoys."

The two former marauders gave identical grimaces at the last name.

"Are you sure about that one. I mean even if they weren't bloody Death Eaters they're still awful bores."

"They're family." Sirius shrugged resignedly. "At least they're marginally better than who Cassie wants me to invite."

Remus Lupin raised an enquiring eyebrow, a habit that both he and his old friend had picked up from Sirius' mute daughter, and waited for what was bound to be bad news.

"Sinistra, Flitwick, McGonagall and ... _Snape_."

The middle aged former marauders shuddered at the thought of having to spend an entire day with the greasy dungeon bat. I mean Fudge was bad enough but _Snivellous_. More shuddering ensued. Of course neither of them were stupid enough to actually consider _not_ inviting him. For some bizzarre reason their little Cass had a bit of a soft spot for the dour potions professor and to go against her wishes was something that they simply could not do. There were two very good reasons for this, firstly because she was their 'perfect princess' and they would do literally anything to make her happy and secondly because if they didn't do what she wanted Cassie was very likely to become ... _upset_. This was not something that anybody who wished to keep their full compliment of limbs wanted to happen.

Having at last buckled down and finished writing the invitations ( _all_ of them) a small flock of owls were draughted in to deliver the nuptial notices to their intended targets and in various parts of Britain and France they were read out.

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 _ **You are cordially invited to the wedding of Lord Sirius Orion Black and Madame Amelia Bones.**_

 _ **This happy event will be held privately at Bones Manor on the First day of August and your aceptance by is required by return owl in order for you and a guest of your choosing to be added to the wards for the day.**_

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The follow up owl from the primary heiress to House Black was brief and to the point.

 _ **You're coming. No excuses. C.E-B.**_

None of the recipients of this stark missive were stupid enough to believe that were going to be let out of it now. Not after reading that. Those like Severus Snape who had been half way through scribbling out their instantaneous and somewhat vehement refusal were brought to a shuddering halt by the commanding tone of the scary young witch's note. Not that everyone had been given this special treatment by Cassie just those select few that she knew would be less than enthusiastic about attending _the_ social event of the summer.

On the balcony of the Delacourt villa in the South of France, overlooking the crystal blue waters of the Meditteranean Fleurdamorte was considering what to do about the card in front of her. Although it would be dangerous for her to interract with the Bones woman and the suspicious and paranoid Black family it was an opportunity for her to find out just how 'dark and dangerous' her short enemy really was. She had spent a good few days delving through the now silent and uncommunicative Fleur's memories of last year's Tri-Wizard Tournament and was actually impressed by the Evans girl's performance. Of course her minions had _told_ her about the tasks but there was nothing quite like seeing it for yourself. Even through borrowed (stolen) eyes.

Cassandra Evans-Black was a magical powerhouse with huge reserves of energy for someone of her age and as for her temper, oh how deliciously explosive and violent that was. The way that the poisoned and injured girl had exacted her excessively bloody and thoroughly entertaining vengence on those mermen warriors had her giggling and snorting with amusement. Which was an entirely new experience for the former Lord Voldemort and currently secret Dark Lady Fleurdamorte. The 'girl-who-lived' was turning out to be an absolute hoot and for the first time she believed that it may be possible for the two of them to exist in the world together without attempting to kill each other now that she was actually Fleur Delacour. Officially speaking at any rate.

Meeting the psychotically protective young woman was becoming rather high on her list of things to do. Also it wouldn't do her position any harm if she were seen to be the dutiful and attentive daughter and sister before the terrible tragedy that would be occurring a few days afterwards. It made attending the Black/Bones wedding worth the risk and she headed inside to tell the elder Delacours that she would indeed be accompanying them and Gabrielle when they left for England next week.

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It was Two in the morning and Amelia Bones couldn't sleep. Which meant that Sirius wasn't allowed to sleep. Her baby bump wasn't even showing yet but still her hormones were raging and she was hot and uncomfortable and eager to take out her resulting bad mood on the black haired man once again snoring next to her. Smug bastard. She reached for her wand and poked him in the back. Hard.

"Oi. Sir Snores-a-lot. I'm thirsty."

She smiled grimly as the now thoroughly house trained man immediately fell out of their bed and struggled into a robe while mumbling.

"I'll make you some tea dear."

Amelia shook her head in wonder as the still half asleep Lord Black led his fiancee down the stairs to the kitchen in almost total darkness. She supposed that he was used to operating in the pitch black after his decade long stint in Azkaban and it was this thought along with the fact that he was being rather sweet to her that thawed her out a bit. Once seated and with a steaming cup of camomile tea in her hand she watched her darkly handsome lover bustling about the place making himself some particularly strong coffee and smiled as she realised that the silly old fool had only made it so that she could smell it. Hermione had provided her with a worryingly long list of food and drink that she wasn't supposed to have and had, unfortunately given a copy to Sirius and Kreacher and neither of them was going to allow her any lee-way when it came to the health of herself or their baby. Meddling bastards.

She was quite surprised to see Sirius' first and favourite adopted daughter wander into the kitchen at this point all bright eyed and ... _tailed_?

"Hello Cass love. What's up, can't sleep?"

Amelia tried very hard not to laugh out loud as her fiancee nudged her gently and drew her attention to the fluffy cat ears poking mischievously out of the messy, raven hair of the primary heiress to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Someone had clearly been playing some rather adventurous bedroom games and forgotten to take them off. She was actually pretty impressed that Susan could manage to persuade the headstrong young woman to dress up like a kitty for her but stopped short of imagining the precise methods that she had employed to achieve this feat. Her stomach was weak enough as it was at the moment.

 **Have we got any bananas?**

As Cassie bent over to rummage around through the lower cupboards in the kitchen the newly enchanted tail that was attached to her in an internal and overly intimate manner twitched wildly causing the back of her t-shirt ride up. Sirius was about to turn around and respond to his daughter when Amy grabbed his face between her hands and kept the inccorrigible flirt away from the sight which might even have managed to scar him. She stuck his head in her cleaveage to give him something else to look at instead.

"Just look at me love."

"Do I even want to know?" Came the muffled reply from the mop of black hair between her tits.

"No sweetie you _really_ don't."

Slipping back into the huge bedroom a few minutes later Cassie shrugged off her oversized T-shirt, crawled stealthily up the enormous bed and stroked the cheek of her lightly slumbering lover with a cool banana. She was rewarded for her efforts by the fluttering eyelids and a sultry smile.

 **I'm back.**

"Yes I can see that." Susan purred out. "And what, pray tell, do you have there Miss Evans-Black?"

Reaching behind her the raven haired girl grinned lasciviously and laid out three bananas, a squeezy bottle of clear, golden honey and a huge bowl of whipped cream.

 **How would you like a bit of a ...** _ **show**_ **.**

"Eeeep."

The suddenly wide awake Susan Bones, or Cuddles to her girlfriend, clapped her hands excitedly and let out a delighted squeak as the gorgeous and almost entirely naked primary heiress to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black dropped cat like to the floor. Her eyes followed her swaying hips and the cute swishing cat tail butt plug as Cassie sashayed her way across to the gramophone smiling enigmatically. As the needle hit the grooves of the record her eyes closed and the smile became a sexy pout while the toned, sinewy, tattooed witch turned to one side and raised her arms above her head. The music started and Suzie drooled in anticipation as her sweet, sexy Cass began to dance. Just for her.

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 _"Pour some sugar on me,_

 _Oh in the name of love,_

 _Pour your sugar on me,_

 _C'mon fire me up._

 _Pour some sugar on me,_

 _Oh I can't get enough._

 _Pour your sugar on me,_

 _Oh in the name of love."_

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Outside in the hallway the gathered members of the rudely awakened household stared at the tiny, stern elf guarding the entrance to her mistress' rooms with a strange mix of emotions. Consternation and a small amount of fear from little Tilde, annoyance at being woken so early from her pleasant Luna filled dreams from Ginny and something ranging between amusement, jealousy and frustration from Charli. As for Sirius and his wife to be their reaction was one of mostly horror. What was most likely happening behind the dark oak double doors of the Head's suite was yet another thing that the older couple _really_ didn't want to know about.

Amelia hit the door with the strongest silencing charm that she could muster up at this time of the morning and chased the girls back off to their respective bedrooms before dragging Sirius off to their own room. That raucous, pumping and rather _dirty_ rock song had messed with her all over the place hormones again and had given her ... _needs_.

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Ensconced in the headmaster's office at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Albus Dumbledore was scowling at the morning paper. As usual it was full of the hated and hateful Evans brat, the illegitimate, half blood daughter of his brightest star from the original Order of the Phoenix, James Potter and that damned mud-blood whore Lily Evans. Of course now that she had been blood adopted by Sirius into the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black she was even more of a pain his arse as he now had to behave to her as befitted her station rather than the nasty little temperamental skank that she actually was. His mood darkened even further as he read about the Black sisters of Psycho Freak House and their shopping trip to Diagon Alley to prepare for the wedding of the year between their new adopted father Sirius Black and Amelia Bones. A wedding to which he had not even been invited let alone asked to perform the bonding as was the usual case by such a politically powerful couple. It was an obvious slight to the old man and it was quite clear to him who was behind it.

He would admit that his poor relationship with his most dangerous student was probably as much his fault as hers. Albus had segregated, vilified and then ignored the 'girl-who-lived' since the first day that she had set foot in the castle, set her up and encouraged a massive school wide bullying campaign against her and not even spoken to her until about half way into her fourth year. Of course if it wasn't for her being such an annoying little half blood, dyke, bitch by turning up at his school in the first place then none of that would have been necessary. If she had just stayed where she was in her obscure South Wales orphanage and waited until he was ready to come and kill her they would have gotten along just fine but no, she had to come and make his life miserable.

Like with this 'fifth house' nonsense. Hogwarts itself had apparently decided that his treatment of her was enough to warrant setting the dirty little slag up with her own bloody House and so the ancient school had created Psycho Freak House. Soon enough all of the other wasters and deviants had found their way there and she now had a support system and friends to count on. What was more was that it had sparked an investigation of his leadership by the Ministry who were sending some awful bloody troll of an over-seer here next term in the guise of a new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor to 'assess' his competence. It was all terribly vexing to him.

She didn't even have the common decency to die when she was bloody well supposed to and when he had gone to such trouble setting up the conditions for precisely that to occur. Cassandra Evans-Black, although she had become much more amusing in the last year or so, was a major pain in his arse and he could not wait until she and Tom Riddle had fought each other to a bloody standstill so that he would be able to swoop in and save the day. It was unlikely now that this would happen any time soon due to his old Head Boy's insistance on turning himself into a pretty young witch and taking a decidedly more careful approach to the next great revolution but he could wait. If there was one thing that Albus Dumbledore had in abundance it was patience.

The Black Witch and Fleurdamorte. He couldn't quite decide which one of them he wanted to win their inevitable confrontation. They both had wonderful 'bad guy' Dark Lady names already and either would put up a decent fight but on reflection he just favoured the 'girl-who-lived' as the elemental magic that she would bring to the battle would be spectacular for those watching. He would still win of course, the elder wand and his vast experience guaranteed that, but it was always nice to put on a bit of a show for the sheep. It made him look so much more impressive when he 'beat the odds.'

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 **And we're off.**

 **Your reviews are oh so** _ **precious**_ **to me but not necessary. I'm certainly not going to hold you guys to ransom over them.**

 **Good? Bad? Leave your thoughts although you can always PM me with ideas, suggestions, comments if you want. Dylan the Rabbit. xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**I will admit to having a little weepy moment on Thursday morning as I realised that you guys had actually managed to crash my email with your responses to Chapter 1. My inbox was fairly creaking at the seams with how stuffed full it was ...** _ **snigger**_ **.**

 **Seriously though big thanks to everyone who has faved, followed and reviewed and I'm pleased that you seem to be enjoying it so far.**

 **Big wedding chapter here chock full of fluff and fun and a breakfast scene in London suggested by the always amusing Blitzstrahl.**

 **As for Sinclair36' question, the song that Cassie did the strip-tease to was 'Pour some sugar of me' by Def Leppard. It's a true master class in how to write the filthiest possible song without actually using any swear words at all and is also by a great '80's hair band. Well worth checking out.**

 **I still don't own Harry Potter otherwise I'd be writing all day instead of working to pay the bills.**

 **Dylan the Rabbit. xx**

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 **.**

 **Season of The Witch.**

 _._

 **2\. Let's get married.**

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A gloriously hazy, yellow, mid-summer early morning sun filtered through the heavy curtains of Amelia Bones' bedroom at Bones Manor and woke her from a deep, relaxing and incredibly satsfying sleep. She stretched out in her bed and gave a great yawn before rubbing her eyes and blinking them open. They shut again instantly as she spied the five expectant, excited faces staring at her from their position kneeling at the end of her large, comfortable bed and her head disappeared beneath the sheets with a groan. Thankfully she wasn't hung-over as her hen party had contained the protective influences of both Susan, Ginny and Winky who absolutely refused to let her have even the tiniest sniff of anything remotely alcoholic. Not that she could blame them there really with the stern and serious Miss Granger to have to deal with if they slipped up on her strict diet sheet. Still she wasn't overly keen on making an early start today and groaned again as she was shaken back into wakefulness by her annoying bloody niece.

"Ah, ah, ah. None of that now Auntie, it's time to get up so that my assistants and I can beautify you for your big day."

A pair of hands and a mop of slightly grey tinged red hair poked back up over the top of the covers and a muffled voice grunted out.

"I hate you."

"Yes well you can do that all you want later but now it's time to prepare." She looked over to the straining and rather hungry looking younger girls and tilted her head towards the still covered Amelia. "Ladies? If you would be so kind."

With growls and squeals of delight the girls launched themselves at the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, overwhelming the older woman with sheer numbers and dragged her out of the bed and off into the bathroom. Susan bones watched, smiling with pride as her young friends forcibly but gently, she was pregnant after all, manoevered her Aunt across the carpeted bedroom and through the door. She was watching carefully enough that she saw the indulgent smirk appear on the usually stern woman's face as she allowed herself to be pushed and pulled along.

They really were very sweet girls, if a little too inexperienced and enthusiastic when it came to their make-up choices and she and Susan only had to step in twice when they attempted to go a step too far. Of course it was the exhuberant and weirdly warped influence of the loveably eccentric, but slightly mad, Luna Lovegood that led to the two Bones ladies vetos.

"Come on then girls. Hermione's got the wedding breakfast all planned so we all need to get ready if we're going to meet her in time."

Amelia breathed a small sigh of relief that it was the sensible and reliable Miss Granger who was organising the morning's main event. She hadn't really expected her niece to allow anything untoward to go on but when Xeno Lovegood's little lunatic daughter was involved you could never be too sure what was going to happen. Her relief turned to amusement as Susan chivvied the girls into a variety of odd looking muggle clothing before the smile died on her lips when the Bones heiress turned her attention to her.

"Your turn Auntie."

"Oh bugger."

They turned up outside of the British Library ten minutes later and immediately spotted Hermione sitting on the steps of her favourite place in the muggle world, her instantly recogniseable, bushy haired head buried in a book. Of course. There weren't many things that could distract Hermione Granger from reading but being set upon by three excited twelve year olds and one mentally unstable blonde witch was definitely on the list. Having extricated herself from clutches of her young and adoring study group ... and Luna ... the Psycho Freak's most intelligent member set off leading a merry little band of giggling, chattering girls and today's bride towards Camden.

"This Gregg bloke makes bloody good cakes."

Hermione Granger, the dentists daughter and all around good girl, had taken her girlfriend's new step mum and six impressionable young women to the ultimate house of tooth rotting, sugary breakast pastries. They would never forget the excellence of their morning feast and after some exceptionally eccentric, Lovegood inspired mis-behaviour, Greggs would never forget them. After a brief stint in the manager's office, photographs of the eight wet, dishevelled and pastry covered witches were forwarded to every branch of the sandwich chain in the entire country. The doctors Granger would probably be quite pleased to know that their daughter had managed to get herself 'banned for life' from Greggs.

The manager of the Camden High Street franchise of the popular food chain looked through the series of eight photographs and shuddered at the sight of them. He had a teenaged daughter himself and he would be praying every night from now on that she never came under the influence of animals like this. Not that their guardian had been any better behaved. The angular faced older woman with the ruined make-up and the Hello Kitty sweatshirt was clearly some kind of hardened criminal who ran this gang of intemperate hooligans with a view to ruining buinesses around London. He was only surprised that they hadn't asked him for protection money.

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While his fiancee was getting herself in trouble in muggle London, at Bones Manor Sirius Black was having a heated argument with his two black haired daughters and 'groomsmen' Cassie and Charli. Their small contretemps was all over the rouched and ruffled robes that had been laid out ready for him by Kreacher. His mother weighing in with her nasty little barbed comments from the confines of her portrait was going down like a lead balloon too.

"No."

"Look pops you can say no 'till the cows come home but you know that you're going to be wearing them in the end."

 **I'm sure they'll look fine da'.**

Charli and Cassie's helpful and encouraging assertions almost had him reaching for the hated ensemble until they suddenly broke from their entirely fake, innocent little 'daddies good girls' routine and fell about honking, huffing and laughing. Bloody Moony joining in didn't exactly help. He couldn't believe he had spent his stag night with this lot. This was due to Cassie's wishes and, since his eldest (by two days) daughter ruled the House of Black with a soft, adorable pout and a big bloody stick, he had agreed. Even to the no drinking rule that she had imposed, apparently if his pregnant bride to be wasn't permitted then neither was he. Showing support for his love and all that bollocks. Still at least he didn't have a hang-over this morning.

It was about the only good thing about this morning he thought as he glared at the disgustingly frilly, black outfit once more. No. He was Sirius bloody Black, famous marauder of Hogwarts, not some pussy whipped Weasley and he wasn't going to be pushed around like this. He would stand up and tell them exactly what they could do with these horrid robes. Unfortunately, as one of the people he was trying to strong-arm was his precious and insanely scary green eyed daughter it just came out as pleading and a bit whiney.

"But _why_ do I have to wear it, I mean you two get to wear nice dresses that you picked out yourselves. Can't I just wear my old tuxedo or something?"

"Look pops." Remus tried not to grin too much as Charli put her arm around Sirius and explained the facts of life to him. "She's the lauded and adored 'Black Witch'. She could turn up in tutu and nipple pasties and nobody would blink an eye." Remus' grin became a snort. "But you're Lord Sirius Black of the dark and traditional House of Black and you have to look the part."

He finally accepted his capitulation that everyone else in the room knew had been guaranteed from the start.

"Alright but I'm not getting changed with you two grinning lunatics in the room." Frankly Moony and Kreacher weren't much better but they were at least male. Sort of. "Still Snivellous and catty McG will be around today so at least we can have some fun at their expense."

Waggling their eyebrows at each other the two former marauders exchanged a cheeky and devious grin before their chuckling and Snape baiting plans were brought to a very abrupt end by the appearance of an extremely unsympathetic Cassie right up in their faces.

 **Oi furballs.**

Sirius and Remus felt the dual sharp stings of her open palms that were brought sharply across their exposed and tender cheeks.

 **No bloody pranks.**

"You just slapped us."

 **I'll do more than just bloody slap you if you fuck up this day for Suzie and mam with your stupid jokes you hairy gits.**

The other people in the bedroom cringed as Cassie's temper flashed and Walburga's portrait sniggered to herself as they all moved slightly away from the suddenly furious young woman. Smoke started to seep from the cold, green eyes indicating that she was _really_ angry and her sister moved switly to wrap her up in a gentle hug from behind, whispering in her ear that Sirius and Remus were just being silly and that they didn't mean it. As the infamous 'Black Witch' began to calm down under Charlotte's tender ministrations the pair of chastened, middle aged reprobates shuffled their feet and looked at the floor before apologising to her properly.

Honestly they knew better than to wind her up when she was stressing about something. Last time that he had pissed her off with an ill timed prank Sirius had been blasted down two flights of stairs at Grimmuald Place and ended up with a broken leg, multiple rib fractures and a concussion. Not wanting to be going down that particular route again he and Moony, who was normally more aware of her ... _moods_ , had decided to err on the side of caution and give their profuse and sincere apologies. Cassie was properly scary when she got into this kind of mood and the only way to quell her anger was to capitulate immediately and with not even the tiniest hint of sarcasm lest she really let her impressive temper off it's extremely short leash.

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Summer was a big time for birthdays in Noble and Most Ancient House of Black and this day wasn't just about Sirius and Amelia. The wedding was only one reason that they had gathered all of these fun and not so fun but never-the-less important people here today. The massive party that they had planned was also doubling up as the birthday celebrations for both Charlotte and Cassandra Black and being such an important occasion everything had to go perfectly.

Because of this Cassie was in total command mode. She was currently shepherding her Hogwarts House mates, making sure that they were all either looking after their guests or being looked after themselves, directing the elves and generally taking her duties as hostess very seriously indeed. Amelia and Sirius had been instructed that they were not to worry about a thing and that all they had to do was greet the guests and have a lovely, stress free day. The girls of Psycho Freak House would take care of everything today and it would all go like clockwork. Even if she had to beat everyone present to death with her scythe to achieve that small miracle. Nobody was in any doubt that she would do exactly that if pushed.

Draco Malfoy stood with his parents and the Head of his Hogwarts House in a secluded, out of the way corner of the rose garden, sipping a glass of muggle champagne and studying the newly extended Black family. They had invited some very surprising guests. Or rather they would have been surprising to him if he hadn't known just how persuasive and influential the major player in his mother's old House could be when she set her mind to something.

His 'cousin' Cassandra was prowling around like a big cat, eyes flicking across everyone and everything looking for the slightest hint of anything amiss. She actually looked a great deal like his mother did when she was hosting one of her lavish parties, always on the move, always on the look-out, ready to jump in and sort out any last minute hitches. Although he certainly wouldn't be making that comparison anywhere that Cassie could hear it as he was rather fond of his testicles being left just exactly where they were thank-you very much. In fact it was probably safer if he just kept it to himself entirely. Especially if he wanted to keep himself allied with her.

"Have I told how pleased I am that you seem to be thinking things through a lot more lately Draco?"

Severus Snape had been scanning the young man's thoughts with a little more than passive interest since his surprising approach and offer of aid and intelligence to the 'Freak in chief' last term. Using his protection detail's Welsh connection to avoid being immediately castrated by the psychotic young woman (they did have a bit of _history_ ) had impressed the potions professor no end. The boy might actually have something more than his father's money about him after all. He was going to need to if he was actually going to try and ally himself with the Black Witch.

"Did I have a choice professor?"

"I don't think any of us do in the end Draco."

The Malfoy heir and his god-father both sighed as they stood in companionable silence and watched the dangerous, green eyed girl drag a doe eyed Lupin away from the annoyed looking, pink haired young auror and behind a convenient hedge by the scruff of his neck. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that the werewolf had a bit of a thing for Andromeda Tonks' daughter and just as obvious that she had no interest in him whatsoever. Especially when the Delacours arrived.

It took every ounce of restraint that she possessed for Tonks not to grab the platinum haired veela by the arse and stick her tongue down her throat as Fleur leaned in and lightly brushed their lips together in greeting. The French witch seemed to know this instantly and smirked at the junior auror. Bringing those soft lips up to the taller woman's ear she purred out her greeting.

"Bonjour ... _Tonks_."

There was no way that she should have been able to make that dull, boring name so passionate, so exciting and so ... _dirty_ ... but somehow Fleur managed it. Of those people that knew her well none would have believed that Nymphadora Tonks, veteran of many a flirtatious campaign in the war of love, would be completely undone and defeated by this barely eighteen year old French pop tart. She certainly hadn't believed it to be possible and yet. Here she was. Panting and drooling over this, admittedly gorgeous, little blonde witch. And it wasn't even as if she could blame the half veela's allure as Fleur (Merlin, even her name was cute) had impressive control over it and had seemingly been very careful around her. No, unfortunately this was all her.

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After a relatively simple but exceedngly beautiful ceremony presided over by the grinning fool that was the current Minister for Magic himself the garden party cum wedding reception got going with a bang. The tubby wizard in the ridiculous green robes jumped at the sudden and very loud fireworks that had been planned to go off seconds after the bonding was complete erupted in a shower of pink lovehearts and rainbow stars. This was clearly the work of the surprising 'princess of pink' Susan Bones although she had prevailed on professor Flitwick to provide her with some technical advice on the more tricky charms. They gave each other a smirk and a subtle high five as the laughing bride and groom skipped through a wand provided rainbow arch and out onto the newly laid wooden dance floor in the centre of the main lawn.

Cassie was on the verge of tearing up as she watched the two people who had become _her parents_ waltzing around the floor, gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. She sniffed, removed her glasses and wiped a corner of her dress across her face to try and stem the rivulets of moisture that began to flow, unwanted and unbidden. In an instant her red headed girlfriend was at her side, wrapping the shorter girl up in a tight embrace and hiding her distress from the on-looking guests who were trying very hard not to gawp at her. They were all aware of the risks involved at being caught staring at the primary heiress to the House of Black if, or more likely when, her mood shifted from weepy to vengeful.

Thankfully some deep breaths along with plenty of hugs and kisses from the attentive Miss Bones managed to calm Cassie down enough that she was able to give the slightly concerned newly married couple a watery smile before heading off to fix her make-up. By the time she and the rather rumpled looking Susan arrived back at the reception they were walking funny, being a little rubber legged after their bathroom activities and smiling widely. They were just in time for the fun to really start.

As the alcohol flowed and the guests started to ... _relax_ Matthew Williams, Cerys' big brother who was acting as the DJ today began to play more and more muggle songs hoping to encourage the stuck up wizarding nobles to start dancing less stiffly and more enthusiastically.

At the first strains of 'One Step Beyond' by Madness the wizard equivalent of the nutty boys were on their feet and strutting their way across the dancefloor. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Xeno Lovegood and even the grumpy chief House Black elf Kreacher formed a line snaked their way around with alcohol fuelled over confidence in their modest skills. It was insane and wrong and more than a bit crap but it was incredibly funny and the quartet of lunatics received a rapturous round of applause and wolf whisltes from the clearly just as drunk and insane audience. well most of it anyway. Cassie and the Psycho Freak dance troupe were not going to be upstaged by a bunch of pissed, middle aged men and she approached Matthew to request a certain song be played.

In fact Cassie and the girls had planned for just this occurrence and had spent quite a considerable amount of time rehearsing something that was guaranteed to bring the house down and as the intro rose they struck. Coming from all four corners of the polished surface the nine young witches strode up to strike their various pre arranged poses in their opening positions and froze until the chorus started.

.

 _"That's the way uh-huh, uh-huh,_

 _I like it uh-huh, uh-huh._

 _That's the way uh-huh, uh-huh,_

 _I like it uh-huh, uh-huh."_

.

Their carefully choreographed routine trod a fine line that landed just on the safe side of decency although there were moments when the distinctly sexual nature of their dancing shocked the partying adults. Those of them that were un-used to the antics of Cassie and her little band of dancing witches found themselves completely unable to look away as they slid, stomped, whirled and gyrated their way through the song in perfect harmony. The applause that greeted this display dwarfed that of her dad and his irritating friends prompting Cassie to give him the finger and poke her little, pink, forked tongue out at him for good measure too. Sirius took his defeat gracefully but not before he had prodded a rather drunk Aurora Sinistra into calling for the 'Shake it Up' dance.

The smirk and tongue turned into a scowl from the black haired girl. It wasn't that she was averse to doing it, just that she didn't like being manouvered into it by the daft old prankster who was always trying to get one over on her. And he really had this time as well. Almost as soon as the words 'shake it up' had left the astronomy professor's mouth the four twelve year old girls, Cerys, Juliet, 'Tilde and Gabrielle were all instantly lined up in front of her and giving her the puppy eyes that she had taught them herself. Cassie's head dropped and she sighed heavily.

 **Fine.**

"Yay! Shakeitup, shakeitup, shakeitup!"

The antics of the younger girls made Cassie crack a smile as she watched them bouncing around the similarly laughing forms of Luna, Ginny and Susan.

Taylor Swift began to sing and they were off into the old routine again.

It was noted in several parts of the open air hall that even the grease-meister general, Severus Snape himself, was seen tapping his foot to the rythm of the bouncy mugle pop song. Meanwhile Draco, or 'princess hair gel' as Cassie had rather unkindly begun referring to him last school term, was doing some amazing facial contorsions in order to not alert his outraged, blood purist father that he was utterly entranced. The beat, the voice, the dancing, it was all just so unbelievably ... _wonderful_. How could anybody think that the superbly talented and creative individuals that had come up with this incredible music were no better than servants or slaves was simply beyond his comprehension.

It seemed that his two school bodyguards, Gregory and Vincent who, much to their consternation and delight, had also been invited at the last minute thought so too as they were currently enjoying themselves 'shaking it' with various female members of the House of Black out on the floor. Deciding to join them and thinkng that his father was actually going to kill him for his behaviour tonight Draco moved out and offered his hand to a quite drunk but still somehow severe and regal looking professor Minerva McGonagall. He was surprised when she accepted his invitation, astonished when she swept him up into a rather fast and exhuberant dance and more than a little scared when she rubbed herself against him during it, purring wildly.

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The party went on late into the night and it was gone one in the morning before the first guests began seeking the Blacks out to say their goodbyes. Among these were the Diggorys and Cedric's pretty Gryffindor girlriend Katie Bell. While the elder members of the group were all formal and proper their son Cedric was considerabily less so.

"Brilliant party Cass. Oh and thanks for agreeing to look after Katie next year, it's important to me that she stays safe so I'm giving you the precious thing I have to keep for me." He seemed to think of something here and wagged his finger at her. "But I want her back so don't go shagging her alright."

Her best male friend's big, stupid grin told her that he didn't really think that she would do that to him. Or herself. Susan Bones had a bit of a nasty streak when it came to people hitting on her girlfriend and vise versa. The Blacks gave a little 'awww' as Katie dragged her boyfriend away by the hand, kissing him and calling him 'my hero'.

 **Later Dumbass.**

"Why does she call him Du ... "

The sentence was never completed as Sirius was tackled to the ground by all four of his daughters and prevented from speaking by various small hands clamping themselves over his mouth. Amelia just looked at her niece with her eyebrow raised for a few moments before the realisation hit.

"He doesn't know that she calls him that does he?"

Her shaking and watery eyed red headed niece shook her head with her hand over her mouth attempting to stifle the honking laughter that the scene before them would have inevitably caused. It would not be restrained, however, when Sirius sat bolt upright and shouted.

"Owww. Who bit me? Little cows."

More of their honoured and not so honoured guests came and gave the their goodbyes in various states of intoxication and at last the Black family could think about going to bed. Those who were staying over which was restricted to the Psycho Freaks and their families helped with a quick clear up before they all trudged off to find their respective sleeping quarters in the vast old mansion house.

Cassie smiled tiredly as she watched the final guests, the Delacours, leave then took her girlfriend's hand and followed her strange family across the lawn. This had been a mostly good day with very few threats of violence being necessary and a perfect end. Maybe she had a career in party planning waiting for her one day.

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A tired but happy Alain Delacour carried his sleeping youngest daughter in his arms across the short lawn to Bones Manor proper and smiled at the jars of bluebell flames suspended in mid air that lit his path. He and Apolline had enjoyed their day here very much indeed and even Fleur had seemed to regain some of that vigour and sense of fun that had been lacking in her since her return to France last month. How much of that was due to the handsome looking, pink haired auror that Fleur had been hanging off of all day Alain couldn't say but he suspected she may have had quite a lot to do with it. He didn't disapprove per se but he was a little concerned at the speed and intensity with which they were moving.

Fleurdamorte would have scoffed at the ridiculous, pompous old man if she were not currently playing the role of besotted girlfriend of the brilliant, brave and most usefully to her the very _protective_ Auror Tonks. Still it wasn't like he was going to be around for much longer. She had held off on her plan to destroy the clan of Delacour and thus make her a poor battered orphan to be taken in, cherished and loved by the strange, somewhat clumsy young woman who she had been cultivating since her Tri-Wizard Tournament victory, but it was still happening. Very soon.

That ths plan would also rid her of her annoying and mostly incompetent Death Eaters was just a nice little bonus for the secret Dark Lady in waiting. She couldn't imagine that the misogynistic, blood purist fanatics that made up her small force of follwers would put up with being ordered around by an eighteen year old foreign witch who was also a part creature for very long. No matter who she had previously been. The terror of Voldemort would soon be forgotten and they would eventually turn on her with a vengence. It was best that she terminated them first and fast. Of course if she could manipulate someone else into doing it for her that would be an even better outcome.

Batting her eyelashes at her trim, muscular companion who was always so spectacularly red faced around her and she pouted prettily while smirking internally. Oh yes Tonks would be perfect and if she could get her to include her interesting and violent cousin Cassandra as well then all the better. All that she would have to do was ensure that she executed her plan at a time when she knew that the two would be in the same place together. Child's play. The smitten young woman was absolute putty in her hands and would do literally anything she asked at this point. The wonderful irony of having the 'girl-who-lived' taking out some of the obstacles in her path to becoming the first Dark Lady to rule over magical Britain since Morgana Le Faye was not lost on her and she started to giggle and snort uncontrollably.

"Are you alright Fleur, what's wrong my angel?"

Ah Auror Tonks. So deliciously predictable in your over protective responses to the smallest of changes in her every mood.

"It is nothing my love I was just thinking how you would manage to make a mess of our wedding day with your adorable clumsiness."

There was a great deal of muttered cursing as the flustered young woman tripped over her own feet and was only prevented from falling by the strong grip of the openly laughing half veela at her side. Merlin's hairy arse this was all just too easy. Why the hell had she bothered going through all of that ridiculous Death Eater business last time when the world was simply tripping over itself to give her what she wanted just because she was cute and pretty and damaged. Morons.

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 **Yes alright I've been watching RWBY MMD's on that popular video upload site again, let's just move on shall we.**

 **Reviews are always appreciated but not necessary. I'm not going to hold you guys to ransom over them.**

 **Good? Bad? Leave your thoughts although you can always PM me with ideas, suggestions, comments if you want. Dylan the Rabbit. xx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sticking to my recent tradition of up-loading on Christmas day, since I literally have nothing better to do, I give you this um ...** _ **alternative**_ **... holiday offering and hope that you enjoy it.**

 **There has been much discussion among some of you as to Gabrielle's role in this story and whether she will continue to be in it. Here is your answer.**

 **To darth Quiedus, your wish is my command. Prepare for some serious and pretty brutal violence in this one as our little Cassie goes on something of a rampage. Here comes the pain.**

 **Enjoy.**

 **I still don't own Harry Potter otherwise I'd be writing all day instead of working to pay the bills.**

 **Dylan the Rabbit. xx**

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 **.**

 **Season of The Witch.**

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 **3\. Lost in France.**

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All eighteen of the Death Eater minions, apart from Snape who had not answered the call, of the the former Lord Voldemort were involved in this attack on Delacour Villa and they were in an almost jovial mood. There was nothing that was quite as much fun as a bit of rape, pillage and murder sanctioned by their Lord ... Lady ... whatever he was now and they were all looking forward to it immensely. Even the sour and grumpy old werewolf Fenrir Greyback had a spring in his step as he thought that this attack would mark the start of the return to the good old days of attacking the mud bloods and blood traitors with impugnity. They were all, of course, enormous idiots and entirely wrong but it didn't stop them cheering as they reached the main gate of the villa and began their assault.

Inside Alain Delacour's private upstairs study the intended victim of the assault briefed his wife and daughters quickly and efficiently. Fleurdamorte listened intently to his plan for their great escape.

"Girls, get to the fireplace in the sitting room, bar the door and work on opening it. Your mother and I will split up and draw their attention. When you get it open you will floo somewhere safe, either our Ministry or the British one for preference but any safe place will do."

Merlin but the old man was making this easy for her.

"But what about you and maman?"

"We are not without skills my love and we can keep them busy while you raise the alarm."

She was sure that they would keep her Death Eaters busy but probably not in the way that they imagined. Nodding with fake tears in her eyes she grabbed Gabby's hand and the two girls fled down the back stairs to the sitting room where their main floo fireplace was situated. Fleur bundled her through the heavy pine door and slammed it behind them, locking it with her wand. Having let the Death Eaters in to the villa in the first place she knew exactly what to do and exactly how long she had to do it.

Her original plan had been to use one of her idiot minion's wands and simply Avada the young veela before kicking her through the floo to bring her avenging angels Tonks and the Black Witch here to exact their bloody retribution on the Death Eaters. However. Somehow, now that she was here with the girl unarmed and in front of her, Fleurdamorte just couldn't seem to bring herself to do the deed. A strange sensation that she sould not yet identify as pity and compassion stayed her hand and she quickly revised her plan on the fly.

"Go to the Blacks, find Tonks and get help. I'll stay and help maman and papa hold them off."

"No I won't leave you all here."

"Gabby you must. Without aid we are all dead."

"Non, non I will _not._ "

As amusing as this was for her Fleurdamorte was on kind of a tight schedule here. Rescuers needed to be alerted and useless minions killed and here she was having a shouting match with a child. Not being in the mood to argue with her Fleurdamorte picked the smaller girl up by the waist and literally threw her into the green flames while shouting.

"Twelve Grimmuald Place."

Now that the girl was on her way the clock was running and Fleurdamorte needed to get things moving to be ready for her guests who should be arriving very soon. Throwing open the door she marched to the front entrance to greet her minions as they finally breached the gateway wards that she had already seriously weakened earlier in the day.

"The old man is in the back study upstairs and the woman is in the main bedroom down the hall at the end of the stairs. Split up as you wish and take them out. I don't care what you do to them first but I want them both dead within the next ten minutes so hurry it up."

There was a lot of smiling and thumping of shoulders at this from the moron brigade as well as a mixture of 'yes my Lord' and 'yes my Lady's. Fleurdamorte tried not to sneer in disgust at the depraved animals, reminding herself that they would all soon be dead anyway, and continued barking out her orders.

"Dolohov, once you're done use some of that fiendfyre you like so much and torch the place. Pettigrew, Greyback, you're in here with me."

She led the disappointed Greyback and the extremely grateful Pettigrew back into the sitting room and re-locked the door before explaining to them how she needed to be found and what they should do. The werewolf huffed petulantly at the idea that he wasn't going to get a go at the still lovely Madame Delacour but consoled himself with the fact that he would get to taste auror flesh first. Peter just thanked his lucky stars that he would be in a position to get out fast if he needed to. Being a small rodent animagus, able to slip in and out of small crevices and rat runs had never been quite so handy he thought.

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In the sitting room at Twelve Grimmuald Place Cassie was sat cross legged and bare footed on the sofa using her shirt to clean the slug slime from her treasured combat boots as Tonks grinned at her smugly. She had lost count of the number of times that supposedly tougher opponents had lost duels to simple prank jinxes simply because they weren't expecting her to use something so frivolous. It was best that the other girl learned that lesson in the safety of the controlled environment of her own home rather than out there in a fight for her life.

The training sessions in real world fighting as opposed to duelling were something that Fleur, who had seemed to take a great liking to her highly amusing cousin at the wedding, had suggested and she was only too happy to oblige. Of course they really shouldn't be doing this in the sitting room with Susan Bones, Luna Lovegood and the rest of the Black sisters taking a worrying amount notes but hey-ho. It's not like they would be using the tips that they picked up here for their own nefarious purposes, right? Right? She looked over at the five furiously scribbling witches all with identical evil little smiles on their lips and sighed. Oh balls.

Her thoughts of the inevitable dressing down she would be receiving from her boss and more importantly her mum for her part in this were interrupted by a screaming blonde veela missile shooting out of the floo and crashing into the surprised Luna. It took a good few minutes before they could calm the girl down enough to get her to talk to them in English but when they did the icy hand of fear clutched at Tonks' heart.

"Death Eaters at the villa."

At these words Cassie was suddenly on her feet and all business.

 **Suzie get to your Aunt and raise the alarm.** **Charli, find Hermione then go and get Juliet and Cerys and bring them back here**

She paused and looked briefly at the sobbing little veela in Luna's arms.

 **Cerys first.**

Tonks moved to the small blonde and stroked her hair. She gently pulled her around to face and asked the most important question of all.

"Gabby, where's Fleur?"

"She stayed to help maman and papa."

Even though she knew in her heart what her girlfriend's little sister was going to say the reality of actually hearing the words was still a shock to her system and she froze. It took maybe a minute for her to break out of her catatonia. A minute in which she could see mirrors being pulled from pockets and hear the scared but efficient girls setting about their assigned tasks. Then her head was clear and she knew what she had to. Grabbing floo powder as she turned and flinging it into the fire in one smooth action Tonks leapt for the fireplace shouting.

"Delacour Villa!"

 **Fuck.**

Cassie caught a flash of red as the pink haired girl rushed past her and had to use a burst of her air magic to accelerate herself enough to catch her. It was almost not enough. Flailing her hand she was thankful when her fingers caught a hold in the trailing edge of Tonks' auror cloak which quickly turned to nausia as she was pulled along with the other girl through the hated and disorienting floo network.

As they exited the fireplace seconds later, Tonks attempted to do an athletic and impressive forward roll, intending to finish crouched with her wand drawn ready to fight as she had been taught in auror training. Unfortunately since Cassie was still hanging onto the back of her cloak she was shot out at a good rate of knots to collide with her cousin putting the pair of them into an untidy heap on the floor.

Normally there would have been much hilarity between the two but the sight of the frightened Fleur pinned to the desk by a huge man in a black cloak with long, silvery grey hair was no laughing matter. The fact that he had his hand inside Fleur's dress was also making them both extremely angry and ready to do murder. Well Cassie was ready to do murder, Tonks just wanted to get the beast away from _her_ veela and took careful aim with her wand. The high powered piercing hex that she shot off punched a two inch hole through the werewolf's elbow just as Cassie let loose with her air elementalism and slammed him back into the wall while pulling the girl clear of him. Unfortunately the big man's claw-like hand was still clenched in Fleur's dress and it ripped away from her leaving the poor girl flat on her back on the rug in only her underwear.

 **Whoops.**

Tonks glared at her cousin and shook her head as she hurried over to Fleur and wrapped the frightened angel in her warm, comforting embrace and her cloak. Neither of them noticed Peter Pettigrew in his rat animagus form as he quietly scurried behind the tall grandfather clock and peered out at them. The instant he had seen who had arrived in the room, like any good coward when faced with the vision of death incarnate, he had immediately changed to his rat form and looked for somewhere to hide.

"What do we do with him?"

Tonks all but growled at the pinned Death Eater and Cassie seemed to consider this carefully for a moment before one of those creepy smiles made it's way to her face. She reached for her wand and stopped. Shit. It was still on the coffee table at Grimmuald Place. She huffed and shrugged before raising her hand and wandlessly moving their prisoner out to the middle of the room while drawing her dagger that she thankfully still had on her hip. Silent until now, wondering what these ridiculous females were going to do with him exactly, Fenrir Greyback now laughed at the approaching teenager.

"That can't hurt _me_ you dumb dyke."

The black haired girl's eye twitched at his use of the word dyke. She _hated_ that word. Twirling her goblin made dagger around in her right hand Cassie reached out with her left and laid it on the foul mouthed man's injured elbow. Smiling sweetly at him she jammed her finger into the open wound and twisted viciously. Waving her dagger like a baton the dangerously angry girl began to use it to conduct his resulting screaming still with that nasty and deceptively sweet smile plastered across her lovely face. Then something seemed to occur to her and her grin was truly horrible to behold.

Knowing the psychotic teen who was the power behind the Black family as she did Tonks tried to turn so that the squirming and very interested Fleur wouldn't have to witness the bloodshed that was bound to come. The fascinated blonde managed to free herself just in time to see Cassie channel the force of the elements and freeze her dumbass wolf minion solid from his toes to his neck before pulling back and morphing that wonderful weapon into a four foot sledge hammer. She approved of leaving his head free as it was always more fun when the victim was aware of what was happening to them.

Cassie grinned once more at the immobile werewolf, planted her feet and started to turn in small circles with her outstretched arms rigid hanging on to the hammer's handle like an Olympic athelete. At each revolution the heavy head of her sledge hammer accelerated until it and the spinning witch were nothing more than a black and silver blur. Fenrir's brain, working slowly as frozen blood clogged the pathways, was beginning to have a horrible idea what the nasty little dyke bitch was planning to do.

And then it happened. He watched in what seemed like slow motion as the girl reached her maximum velocity and snapped out of her spin, launching the huge steel head of the comically large hammer straight into his chest. There was a great thump that reverberated through his frozen body followed by splintering sound, then the iced up Death Eater's torso shattered and he knew no more.

Fleurdamorte really wanted to laugh as her most vicious and least controllable warrior exploded into thousands of tiny pieces but remembered just in time that she was supposed to be a terrified young woman who had nearly been brutalised by the smelly old wolf. So she contented herself with a shocked little 'mon dieu' as she ducked behind Tonks' hastilly formed shield charm which protected the two of them from the shards of Fenrir Greyback that whistled past and embedded themselves in the walls. Someone was laughing though.

She poked her head out from behind her human shield and saw the strange and rather creepy Black Witch huffing out her quiet laughter as she braided the long hair of the werewolf's still intact head into two pigtails and tied it to her belt. Merlin's balls and people thought that her Voldemort persona had been a psychopath. The old Dark Lord had nothing on this unbelievably scary, violent tempered and yes ... utterly insane, girl. She was _nuts_. Interesting and wildly amusing, maybe, but still nuts. It made her plan to make this girl a part of her rise to power rather than an obstacle to it all the more vital. There was no way that she was going up against this psychotic little elemental witch without a very good reason indeed.

And just like that at the drop of a hat, or in this case the barest whisper of noise from outside of the sitting room, the world's scariest teenager's mood shifted again. It was rather impressive in a totally weird and mental kind of a way. Mental was certainly the word of the day as Cassie's weapon shifted again in front of Fleurdamorte's astonished eyes, melting and morphing to re-emerge as that enormous bloody scythe that she was so famous for.

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Jeannie LaCroix had been an auror with the French Ministry for Internal Secuity for fifteen years and was very experienced and very good at her job. Good enough that she had command of her own hostage rescue team of six battle hardened aurors who could be ready to deploy in a matter of minutes. Four was their record. They broke that record by a minute and a half tonight when they heard just whose house it was that had been invaded by Death Eaters. They apparated directly onto the sloping lawn in front of the villa surprised at the lack of wards. Not surprised enough that they didn't think to set some of their own up mind you. Anti apparition and port-key wards went up and they disabled the floo network. No escaping now bastards.

"Clear the corners."

Her team had been had been together a long time and she knew that she didn't really need to say that out loud but the familiar routine calmed the nerves for all of them. They would need to be calm tonight as the victims here, the Delacours, were almost French magical royalty. Plus Alain Delacour was kind of their boss in a roundabout way. So yes. Calm and efficient. As they proceeded down the hall their calm was almost immediately destroyed when they saw a black robed wizard facing them, staring at his own severed arm on the marble floor which was still gripping tightly to a dark coloured wand. Before they could take him down a large curved blade flashed up from behind him, between his legs and sliced him neatly in half.

"Yeeuuww!"

Merde Jeannie, what the hell are you doing. That is _not_ a noise that a veteran auror makes when confronted by a dead body. It could be worse though, she thought as she saw Phillipe out of the corner of her eye pausing to vomit on floor. And honestly it was not so much the death of the wizard, or even the manner of it, that had caused her to make the noise as it was who had caused it.

Picking her bare footed way towards them through the remains of her latest victim was a spectacled fifteen year old girl clad in nothing but black leather trousers and a sports bra. And more than a few flecks of blood, although not nearly enough to cover up those tattoos that told them exactly _who_ this was that they were dealing with here. Cassandra Evans-Black. The Black Witch of Britain was here and she looked in no mood to be messed with right now, even if she was currently smiling. Jeannie LaCroix thought that she could go a whole life time without seeing that cold, creepy smile again.

"Thank-you for your assistance Mademoiselle Evans-Black." She inclined her head and diplomatically attempted to find out what this infamous young witch was doing here. "Have you seen any of the family?"

The scary girl nodded slowly and banged her scythe on the floor twice.

Jeannie sighed in relief as she saw the Tri-Wizard champion Fleur Delacour peering around the door slightly behind a red cloaked young woman with pink hair.

"Merci, Mademoiselle. Merci beaucoup."

Gesturing for them to get over to her and her team the auror in charge raised an eyebrow in surprise when both of them looked to the Black Witch for confirmation before doing so.

"Phillipe get them out past the wards and comfortable then signal for the other teams to get here." She paused. "The boss will want to know that she's safe too so ... wake him up." Turning to the blood flecked teenager who appeared to be contemplating her speculatively, she asked. "Do you know how many of them are here?"

At the girl's two raised fingers that were quickly drawn across her throat (two less than before they had got here she guessed) she suddenly noticed the severed head hanging from Cassie's belt for the first time. That looked an awful lot like the notorious murderer and werewolf Fenrir Greyback. Her estimation of the girl's skills went up a couple of notches.

"Oookay. Upstairs first. You are most welcome to join us Mademoiselle Evans-Black."

Cassie shrugged and skipped off to the main staircase with her enormous scythe balanced on her shoulder and waved her hand in a quick and excited 'come on' gesture as she started up the stairs. The remaining members of Hostage team one looked around at each other, then shrugged themselves and followed the strange, scary witch. Onwards and upwards.

Being directly behind her the leader of the French aurors was taking the opportunity to check out her magnificent body art. Which did not go un-noticed apparently. The tattoo of the dark angel poked out her tongue to lap at the rivulet of blood that ran down Cassie's back, savoured it with an almost orgasmic look of pleasure on her face and then winked at Jeannie before giggling. By the maid of Orleans even the girl's tattoos were damn creepy. She hoped that it wasn't her that was behind this attack tonight as she had little desire to fight this dead eyed monster and little hope that she would survive if she had to. Not that it was likely but she was an auror and it was her job to think about these possibilities.

They had cleared more than half a dozen rooms before Jeannie got her answer as to the Black Witch's responsibilty, or more precisely, her lack of it in this affair. Cassie had stopped for a second and listened before racing off down the hall and crashing through the door at the end, regardless of who might be behind it or her own safety. It was impressive but stupid and the professionals followed at a more sedate and much safer rate, scanning for threats, until they too reached the remains iof the door.

Creeping carefully into the room Jeannie and her rescue team didn't even clear the corners as they were greeted with the sight of the Black Witch kneeling by the bed with tears running down her face. Apolline Delacour, the beautiful half veela wife of their boss, lay naked, broken and bloodied and quite obviously dead on the blood stained silk sheets. Her lifeless eyes stared at them accusingly and they felt sick. They had failed. Failed in their duty to protect her and the hopes of finding her husband alive were dwindling by the second. Not that they were given much time to dwell upon that fact.

Rising from her knees and wiping the tears from her face Cassandra Evans-Black cocked her head and seemed to listen for a moment, her head swaying slightly as if in time with a rythm that only she could hear. Then she pointed to the far corner of the bedroom and made her left hand into a claw. Fourteen feet away five ragged holes were punched through the wall and as she dragged her arm back towards the door with an awful ripping noise and, as the aurors scambled away from her, it disappeared in a cloud of plaster dust.

When the smoke and the dust cleared nine black cloaked men in silver masks turned to face a new threat where there should never have been one. Two of them recognised the scary, green eyed teenager glaring at them and Jeannie thought that she heard a muttered 'oh shit' as a bottle of wine slipped from someone's grasp and smashed on the floor. The noisy shattering of the glass was apparently the starting gun for action.

The terrified aurors watched in horror as the small, raven haired witch instantaneously appeared in the middle of the group of Death Eaters and paused looking each of them in the eye. Smoke rolled off her body as she surveyed the men who seemed to be caught up in some kind of trance then suddenly one of them twitched his wand hand and the slaughter began.

Those who had studied muggle martial arts were aware that the scythe was not exactly an easy weapon for anyone to wield, let alone somebody of the stature of the shortish, tattooed fiteen year old girl in their eyeline. And yet. The dancing, pirrouetting witch with the long black hair swept it around in terrible and memerising patterns and with a show of strength that seemed to be totally physically impossible for a girl of her size. It was a steel tsunami. A beautiful but horrifying ballet of death.

Only one of the Death Eaters even managed to get a spell off and all that did was to sail harmlessly past the spinning witch and slam it's green light into one of his already dying colleagues. Unfortunately for him it brought the emerald eyed monster's attention to him and the huge, bloody blade swung in a wide arc taking off his head, wand arm and about a third of his chest on the way through.

Twenty five seconds from start to finish and the only person left standing in that awful and now almost totally red room of death was the bood soaked girl with the enormous scythe balanced across the back of her shoulders. The creepy smile that had been on her lips for the entire fight now morphed into a grin that showed entirely far too many teeth.

It was at this point that the French Auror Brigade began to refer to Cassandra Evans-Black with the nick-name that would be echoed in the ranks of magical law enforcement all across Europe in the years to come. A name that would be quietly whispered with awe and respect ... and fear.

La Bouchere Noire. The Black Butcher.

They would say that it was a term of affection for the brilliant young woman who had so valiantly fought with them in their attempt to save the lives of French citizens. But it wasn't. It was a name born of fear.

Ignoring the shocked spectators Cassie walked slowly back into the bedroom and stopped at the body on the bed. She reverently took the cold, dead hand of the woman who she had remembered as a lovely, charming and entertaining person to spend time with, raised it to her lips and kissed the bloodied knuckles softly. Jeannie managed to rouse herself from her fear induced stupor and found a blanket to cover the badly abused remains of Madame Apolline Delacour and received a nod of thanks as the girl released her hand and tucked it under the cover.

As soon as she was satisfied that the womans decency in death had been preserved Cassie lowered her eyes and concentrated on feeling the flow of magic in the old building. There. She had them. Seven magical signatures on the ground floor, one of whom was rather stupidly trying to use a dark, elemental spell in her vicinity. She snarled and ran through the door, vaulting the balcony rail and turning in mid air to land with a thump on the marble floor below, burying her feet an inch into the hard surface and sending a spiders web of cracks radiating out from the point of impact.

Immediately two jets of purplish red fiendfyre leapt at her. The stupidity of some people never failed to amaze her. Casssandra Evans-Black was possisbly the most well known elemental magic user in Europe and possibly the World right now and still these idiots kept throwing this shit at her. Oh well, their loss she thought as dropped her scythe and held out her arms to welcome the flames. The resulting balls of fire that now surrounded her supple and completely unharmed wrists, caressed their new mistress gently before they were re-formed into long, curling, flaming whips. _Cooool_. She had been so disappointed when she hadn't got to finish Viktor Krum off with her fabulous and fun lightning whip but now she had two pretty new toys and seven targets. Awesome.

Jeannie and her team, having found that Alain Delacour had been just as brutalised as his wife and was just as dead, pounded down the staircase, arriving in the middle of what appeared to be Dante's inferno. They were just in time to see Cassie catch Dolohov around the neck with one of her fiendfyre whips and decapitate him with one swift backwards jerk. The smoke rising from the flaming curtains and every piece of available furniture was making it difficult to see but there were definitely a few more bodies littering the blackened marble. And then of course there was the devil herself standing in the middle of it all, smiling that intensely creepy smile of hers.

The Black Butcher.

Who had now let one of the whips go free to seek and destroy whatever it chose to and picked up her bloody scythe again. She shouted over crackling flames for her team to exit before following them out, looking back only once to see the girl striding through the fire to harvest the heads of her fallen enemies. By the Maid, that young witch was truly a monster and one that she fervently hoped that she would never see again.

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From her seat on the grassy slope Fleurdamorte watched while French aurors ran from the building as the burning villa collapsed into it's own foundations. She gave a little internal cheer as the bloody and soot covered but still very recogniseable long haired blonde English aristocrat stumbled from the building and made a balls up of his half hearted, half arsed attempt to apparate. Lucius Malfoy was hit right in the chest with at least four lethal spells from the waiting aurors and slumped to the ground in a heap. Wow. These French johnnies didn't fuck about did they. While curling into the protective embrace of Nymhadora Tonks under their shared cloak the manipulative Dark Lady grinned to herself before retreating into her mindscape to have a quick chat with her caged host.

The Delacour library blinked into existence again and the two Fleurs faced each other from their separate arm chairs. The one who was bound in chains glared at her mirror image and spat viciously in the beast's direction.

"Monster."

Fleurdamorte sighed and shook her head sadly while she gazed out of the picture window at the inferno devouring their former home before getting up and walking over to 'the host'. Kneeling in front of her she asked.

"You understand your responsibility in all of this don't you."

"My ... _my_ ... responsibility. _You_ took my life, my body, my soul. _You_ murdered my family you evil batard."

"None of that would have been possible without you Fleur. You still don't get this do you? We are tied together in this. We are one. Without each other we can do _nothing_." She took the other girl's hand which she immediately tried to withdraw but she held her firm. "With each other we can do ... _anything_."

Her horror broke at last, leaving only a grim determination in it's place. If it was true that the two of them could affect each other then she would spend every moment that she could manage attempting to rehabilitate the monster that had stolen her very being. If she were doomed to remain in the prison that was 'Fleurdamorte' then she would fashion it into a prison of her own making using the ancient weapons of the Veela. Tom Riddle had once thought that he posessed charm and charisma, he had thought that he was subtle. Fleur Delacourt was going to show him precisely what those words actually meant. It would not be easy and it would not be quick. She would be as the water eroding the rock. The rock may think itself invulnerable but the water always won in the end.

"Come along my dear our valiant would be rescuers are waiting for us." She gave the girl, now back in her cage, a very shark like grin. "Let us not disappoint them."

Cassie came to a stop a few feet from her cousin and Fleur, dumping her large, blood soaked sack full of suspiciously round things at her feet. Ignoring the concerned French authorities fluttering around behind her she took a knee in front of Tonks and the 'traumatised' blonde girl. And that's when she felt it. The whiff of dark magic. It was strange though, not something that she had ever felt before and yet at the same time somehow familiar. It was odd and it was creepy and it was coming from Fleur, but since odd and creepy was kind of her thing Cassie decided to let it go for now and concentrate on her family member.

 **You okay Tonks?**

"Yes."

 **Good. What about her, any lasting damage?**

"No." The pink haired girl paused slightly. "At least I don't think so."

 **Okay. Let's get you both back to Grimmuald Place.**

The French aurors were reluctant to let them go before they could be properly questioned but the appearance of their Minister for Internal Security in the company of a stern, angular faced woman with greying, red hair in a British aurors cloak eased their path. If they were surprised that the head of the British DMLE wrapped the bloody Black Butcher up in a tight hug they didn't show it. Nor would they ever speak of it again. To anyone. Ever. It did not do to upset someone who could cause the level of devastation that had just witnessed with a giggle and a smile. No matter how damned creepy that smile was.

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 **Your reviews are oh so** _ **precious**_ **to me but not necessary. I'm certainly not going to hold you guys to ransom over them.**

 **Good? Bad? Leave your thoughts although you can always PM me with ideas, suggestions, comments if you want. Dylan the Rabbit. xx**


	4. Chapter 4

**Cassie's having a bit of a crisis here and not a fun 'lady crisis' but more one of the soul. At this point she is not some sociopathic, psychotic killing machine like my darling Alice and she still struggles with her humanity as well as with how the world sees her. Needless to say slaughtering sixteen people, even if they were Death Eaters, isn't exactly going to help with that.**

 **As before if you have ideas, suggestions or want to see something happen then put it in a review or give me a PM. As you have seen in Silent World I am more than happy to adapt it as we go if I find something that you've suggested helpful, useful or just plain amusing.**

 **I still don't own Harry Potter otherwise I'd be writing all day instead of working to pay the bills.**

 **Dylan the Rabbit. xx**

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 **Season of The Witch.**

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 **4\. Home is Where the Heart is.**

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The Blacks were gathering their people. News of the attack on the Delacours had thrown the Noble and Most Ancient family into frenzied action. While Amelia was in France expediting the swift release of the three young witches Sirius was back at the Black's ancestral home and had taken over directing the retrieval of the family and their allies to safety. Just in case this Death Eater attack wasn't an isolated incident none of 'theirs' were going to be left alone or unprotected and so the fireplace at Grimmuald Place had been working overtime. The old house was practically bursting at the seams with even Snape and two of the Malfoys in temporary residence. Lucius was nowhere to be found and it wasn't much of an intuitive leap that placed him at Delacour Villa with his 'friends' although this wouldn't be confirmed until late the next day.

It was an eclectic mix of people who would not usually been seen together but since most of them had been at the wedding a few days previously they all seemed to accept each others presence without question or comment. There was also the fact that they were in the home of the increasingly powerful Blacks and nobody started trouble under their roof who didn't have a serious death wish. Sirius or Remus might prank them nastilly and painfully, Amelia might threaten them with prison but with their fondness for extreme violence it was the younger generation that they were really afraid of. Azkaban would be considered a soft option compared to what Cassandra and her fellow Psycho Freaks would probably do to them if they got out of line.

Everyone was sat up in the kitchen waiting for them when Amelia flooed back into Twelve Grimmuald Place with the three younger witches in tow later that night. They had wanted to wait right in the sitting room but Sirius had vetoed that idea immediately, having been warned by his wife that Fleur may be rather emotionally delicate and that they all looked a bit of a state.

The new Lord and Lady Black had managed three days of their honeymoon before he and Amy had been called back to London by a frightened Susan Bones earlier that night. She had apologised to both of them profusely but once they had heard the reason for the panicked fire-call all negative responses had died on their lips. Sirius didn't care about his and Amy's time away being interrupted or that this was their first proper holiday in over a decade. His _only_ concern was that little Nymphie and his beautiful, precious daughter were safe and in one piece.

So it was that Lord Black was the only one to be there to greet them when his family and Fleur stepped from the fireplace and into the warm, welcoming atmosphere of Twelve Grimmuald Place. He embraced his young cousin and her poor shell-shocked looking, blonde girlfriend, attempting to convey a sense of safety and security to the shaking veela before stepping back to look carefully at his daughter and primary heiress Cassie. Amy was right, she did look a bit of a state. It wasn't that she was covered in blood that did it, he'd seen that too many times to be worried by it, but more the fact that she was holding tightly, almost grimly, on to his wife's hand as well as something indefineable in her oddly dull and lustreless green eyes.

She didn't just look tired or upset. She looked broken.

Sirius smiled at her and tried not to show his concern on his face as he stroked her hair.

"Are you going to be alright with Amelia for a little bit?" Her total lack of expression as she gave the smallest of nods was worrying. "I'm just going to get these two settled with your Aunt Andromeda and Gabrielle then I'll be back and we can ... talk."

Cassie watched him go, an arm around each of the witches tucked into his sides and enjoying his surprisingly calming presence (who would have thought that her annoying git of a father could actually be sympathetic and calming) before finally releasing her step-mum's hand.

 **Sorry to drag you away from your honeymoon.**

"That's alright love, I can't remember the last time I got a whole week off and if it wasn't this, trust me, it would have been some other 'emergency' at work." She smiled at her new daughter who seemed to be wrestling with some great internal, ethical question.

 **I'm sorry.**

"Sorry for what darling?"

 **I'm sorry for disappointing you with all that business with the heads mum.**

Mum.

It was the first time that the word had been used by her step daughter in relation to her and it was a very special moment for the usually stern and stoic older woman. Amelia took Cassie's head in her hands and tilted her head up so that their eyes met.

"How could I possibly be disappointed in you Cass. You acted with speed and efficency to keep your friends and your family safe and I have no doubt that those animals deserved everything that you did to them." She smiled again. "And actually the thing with the heads was very useful for identifying them, just ... try not to make a habit of it will you love, it does make people rather nervous of you. Well more nervous than they already are anyway."

The half naked, blood drenched teenager was suddenly in her arms and she felt the moisture spreading across her chest as Cassie buried her face in her robes. It was truly amazing to Amelia Black how fast her step daughter could swing from dangerously violent and murderous to weepy and emotional in the blink of an eye. This, more than anything, made her believe that the girl was not actually the terrible and terrifying monster that sometimes made an appearance from beneath her usually sweet exterior. Oh it was a part of her, there was no doubting that, but it was more like something that she accessed and made use of when necessary rather than what defined and motivated her. Stroking the long, smooth, raven hair while she clasped the tired young woman tightly to her Amelia led her upstairs, through the Head's suite and into the attached bathroom.

She had drawn a bath and coaxed the unresisting girl into the water before trying to leave and fetch Susan. Her arm was jerked back as Cassie's hand tightened and held her fast. Turning back with a half concerned, half amused expression on her face Amelia drew her wand to send off a patronus downstairs to summon her daughter's girlfriend and sisters instead before sitting back down by the bath to wait for the stampede. If her little Cass wanted her here then here she would stay. For as long as she was needed or wanted.

"Alright love, I'm not going anywhere."

She knew her limitations though and she knew who Cassie needed more than anyone else at the moment. Her weird little collection of waifs and strays that she had forged into a tight knit group of proud, powerful young women that had become family to them all. And right on cue she heard them coming. There came an insanely loud stomping from the stairs that sounded like a herd of elephants and her red headed niece appeared in the bathroom with a relieved smile on her face. With no embarrassment at all Susan Bones had shrugged out of her own clothes and climbed into the bath to scoop her girlfriend up in her arms.

Deciding to leave them to it Amelia was about to depart when seven other witches popped their heads around the doorframe and at Susan's beckoning gesture they hesitantly entered. It was certainly a sight to behold she thought as the girls surrounded the bath silently and began to wash the blood from Cassie's hair and body while Susan continued to hold her. The stroking ministrations and whispered reassurances continued to calm and soothe the still troubled Black heiress until she seemed to be in a soporific stupor at which point she was carefully lifted, dried and taken to her bed.

They laid her gently under the covers positioning her back into the tender embrace of her lover and each one of them laid a kiss on her forehead before retreating from the suite. Amelia followed their example and was rewarded with a bleary eyed kiss on the cheek for her efforts from the girl who was now, more than ever, her daughter and a 'thanks Aunt Amy' from Susan. Her smile didn't fade for the rest of the night.

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The following morning, freshly scrubbed and in fresh, clean and, in Fleur and Tonks' case, borrowed robes they and Cassie trotted along behind Amelia as they exited the lift and crossed the entrance hall towards the check in desk of the Ministry of Magic. The stern, older woman tried not to smile at the small, resigned huff that came from behind her when they saw Cornelius Fudge waiting for them in his terrible green hat with a big, cheesy smile on his face.

The last time that Cassie had been in the loathsome Minister for Magic's company in this building she had just barely restrained herself from kidney punching the idiot and that was only because her sex life had been threatened if she didn't behave. Amelia was not overly confident that this time was going to go any better but she had used her new found status as 'mum' to extract a promise of patience and tolerance for those less fortunate than her from Cass. And she was going to need that today as standing next to Cornelius with that smug, supercilious smile on her face and wrapped in a foul pink cardigan, taking notes was the horrid toad woman. Delores Umbridge.

Fudge seemed to be falling over himself to make an introduction and when the ridiculous man finally got through all of his flowery and overblown praise for her they understood why.

"Delores here is going to be your new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor next year." Fudge winked conspiratorially at her. "It's a bit of a secret but I'm sure that _you_ can be trusted Miss Evans-Black."

The bouncing Fudge was beaming at them as though he had just made the most brilliant joke ever and Cassie just about managed a less than enthusiastic, tight smile at the nudged prompt from Amelia. Then the nasal whine of her new professor cut in and even that small concession to good manners disappeared in a hurry.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Evans-Black. I look forward to our lessons next term very much indeed." She gave a smile that looked more like she was suffering from an attack Dehli belly than anything else and continued. "I will also be over seeing a review of the educational standards at Hogwarts, as many important people feel that they have been slipping lately and something needs to be done about it. I understand that you have had your own _issues_ with the headmaster."

Cassie's only thought as she stared at her was ... Fuck she's ugly. I mean she played the respectful, pureblood politics game very well but ... Fuck she was ugly. Also there was something very mean about her piggy little eyes and thin, colourless lips that Cassie didn't trust in the slightest. All in all the Black heiress thought that she was a particularly unlikeable woman and that the two of them may end up having ... _issues_ of their own before long. Not that that would prevent her from cheering the ugly bint on and possibly even helping out a bit if she made good on her promise to shove a big, bureaucratic stick up Dumbledork's arse.

At last a real smile made its way on to her face as she thought of the old fool squirming in front of Ministry regulators and the Board of Governors as his semi-competent manipulations of the staff and students were dragged screaming into the light of day. Not that she really thought that they would be but she could dream.

Delores Umbridge seemed to take Cassie's wide, dreamy smile as an indication that she had impressed the powerful and influential Black heiress with her statement of intending to have at Dumbledore with her own brand of petty vengence. She didn't like the headmaster one bit and had pushed and bullied the Minister into giving her this position, once the decision had been made to conduct this review, so that she could take the arrogant old man down a few pegs. If it got her on the good side of a Noble and Most Ancient family into the bargain, well that was just a bonus really. Giving the Blacks another of her sickly smiles the pink toad flounced off to continue her preparation for the new school year.

Once this clearly stage managed interlude was over Fudge led the group of witches over to the lifts and on down to the basement and the Department of Mysteries. It had been decided to hold the interviews with the participants of the Delacour Villa incident in this dark and overlooked part of the Ministry in order to keep the details from inquisitive ears and prying eyes. Luckily the French had agreed to this without argument, being somewhat keen to keep the operational details quiet as well, but also without the hope that they would avoid being overheard entirely. The British press were notoriously sneaky when they smelled a good story.

They all sat around the large table, French and British aurors and offiials and of course the three witches at the centre of the affair. Amelia had read out Gabrielle's dictated statement as she had considered that the girl was far too delicate to be interrogated and nobody had dared to disagree with her. Tonks had given her account with the same unemotional monotone in which she delivered all of her work reports and then the beautiful but battered Fleur had started to talk. Her quiet, lyrically soft voice held the entire room captivated as she described her father's last words to her and Gabby and the two girls' race to the sitting room fireplace. At this point she diverged from her sister's story and went off on an entirely fictional journey through the beast Greyback's chase and assault of her before rejoining the more factual accounts at Tonks and Cassie's entrance.

There was silence from the hopelessly entranced group as Fleur wept out her false tears of sorrow for her murdered parents and her gratiude for her rescue and for her two avenging angels. And then it was Cassie's turn. Since she couldn't speak and the authorities didn't want to trust such an important interview to translation that would have to, by necessity, be provided by one of her own family, she had agreed to have her memories of the night viewed through a pensieve. It was another reason why there were down here in the bowells of the Ministry as the only one large enough to accomodate them all was in the Department of Mysteries. The huge basin was positioned and filled and Amelia herself gently and delicately extracted that part of her step daughter's memory before placing it into the bowl for viewing.

The Black family had agreed upon the extent of what to share that morning as they had prepared for this meeting with Sirius and Amelia both advocating caution while Cassie herself had pushed for full disclosure. The emerald eyed girl knew what monster lurked within her and she had a gnawing dread of what others would think of her when they saw it let loose. It was a constant niggle in the back of her mind now. She was a herione and a role model to young (and not so young) witches all over the country since the Tri-Wizard Tournament and as such she had a responsibility to those who looked up to her. Running around in a violent rage and dismembering people without thought or consequence was not what she wanted to be remembered for. She wanted to be loved not feared. Well not all the time anyway, a little fear was a useful thing after all.

As the boggart had shown her Cassie's greatest and most constant fear was that her control would slip and that the monster would take her over completely. It was brought sharply into focus after last night when at the sight of the badly abused body of Fleur and Gabby's mother she had totally and utterly lost that control. The beast had got out and she had revelled in the feeling of power that it gave her. Now, however, as she watched it again, it had her thinking hard about whether or not the beast, that wild eyed, scythe wielding, elemental monster was all that she was. Her enjoyment of the slaughter was obvious and it was beginning to disturb her. Cassie watched grimly as her memory self laughed while she burned down everything around her and decapitated people for fun. She looked like a psychopath.

Most of the people in the dark, underground room looked a bit sick as they watched the memory of Cassie's bloody massacre playing out before them with only a few noteable exceptions. Amelia Black was cooly and professionally assessing her step daughter's performance with a view to steering her towards a possible career in law enforcement at a later date. Fleur, while trying to school her features into a kind of fierce and vengeful interest, was having a huge amount of fun seeing her former minions being sliced and diced by the smirking black haired teen across the table from her. It was Saul Croaker, however, who was the only one actually laughing and cheering 'memory Cassie' on as she bent the dark and dreaded fiendfyre to her will.

The Head of the Department of Mysteries wasn't even supposed to be here, but since this was his territory he had been pernitted to stay for the 'show'. This was a decision that both the French and British contingents were starting to regret as he shouted 'bravo' and began to applaud loudly as the fire whip viciously and spectacularly beheaded that nasty bastard Antonin Dolohov.

Once the business of identifying the Death Eaters, which unfortunately for everyone present was only achievable by watching through the memory of Cassie's eyes as she took her grisly trophies from the dead, was over there was little left to discuss. They all agreed that there would be no charges laid against Cassie for her excessive but entirely justified reaction to the attack on her friends either here or in France and with regrets and offers of support offered to Miss Delacour the officials took their leave. Head unspeakable Croaker, however, had something to ask Cassie so the Black party remained behind for a few minutes.

"So Miss Evans-Black are you ready to arrange a date for a longer visit yet."

For the first time since she had entered the underground Ministry department Cassie offered up a genuine smile of pleasure.

 **Ooh, Tonks tell him tomorrow. I'll come back tommorrow.**

Her sceptical cousin gave the peculiar man the good news and shuddered at the thought of what kind of apoclypse the two of them could cause if left to their own devices in the strangest and often times most dangerous government department.

 **Tell him I'll be bringing a translator.**

"Who are you bringing?" Tonks' eyes narrowed in suspicion.

 **Luna of course. She'll love it down here.**

"Oh fuck me."

Croaker was in paroxysms of joy as he watched the one sided conversation between the cousins with great interest and enjoyment. The clearly muggle way of communicating that the Black heiress used and he had first seen in the Spring when she had visited was absolutely fascinating. He really wanted to know how she did it but for now he had more important things to discuss and for the moment at least that meant giving her questions that only required yes or no answers. He got her attention with a little tug on her robes.

"It was difficult for you watching those memories back today wasn't it?"

 **Yes.**

"I understand. Confronting one's true nature can be quite over-whelming at the best of times but to do so in a room full of strangers, well, I don't envy you." Her small nod encouraged him. "We can talk about that tommorrow if you'd like."

 **Yes.**

He saw her become distracted by something and cock her had to one side, swaying slightly and realised that she was sensing the ambient magic that leaked into this, the central room of his department. It was almost as if something was calling to her. As her eyes flicked around and then landed on a particular door at the end of one of the long, dark corridors he thought that he might just know what that something was.

"Oh by the way that pull that you're feeling, that's one of the magics in this place calling out to you. I am right, you do feel it don't you?"

 **Yes.**

A tilt of the head and a small but firm nod from the girl as she carefully signed out to the closely watching man.

"The only part that confuses me is why she feels it too."

Following his eye line Cassie raised her eyebrows and very cautiously and discretely pointed over to the distracted looking veela flirting half heartedly with her cousin.

"Yes her."

The now serious raven haired girl pionted to herself, then Croaker and tapped the side of her head thoughtfully.

"Yes we should definitely think about that when we meet. Until tomorrow then Miss Evans-Black." He paused. "Oh and do bring that entertaining familiar of yours, it's a long time since I got to see a parselmouth in action."

Cassie nodded at the peculiar man and turned away to find her step mum, thinking over what he had said. That feeling that she had got near Fleur at the villa last night sprang to her mind and she began to wonder at what this connection was between her and the veela. Whether it was something to do with the dark magic that she had used recognising something equally dark inside of Fleur or whether it was something else entirely Cassie didn't yet know but she was becoming very determined to find out. She needed to know why they had this connection and what it meant for her cousin who was so hopelessly in love with the tragic, beautiful French veela girl.

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 **(((((((((x))))))))**

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Cassie's mood after the day's show and tell session at the Ministry of Magic was disturbing for the Psycho Freak girls and Gabby so they had arranged a House meeting in the head's suite at Grimmuald Place to try and help the situation. She was aware of their concern and she loved them all for it but she wasn't sure if they were ready for this yet. Ready to find out just how out of hand she had gotten the previous night in France. Ready to see the monster.

They were, as usual though, nothing if not determined and gradually the other girls coaxed the details of her bloody rampage out of her. She answered their questions, she told them all of it and she held nothing back. The monster was laid bare before them and her friends, her _family_ did not disappoint with their reaction. There was nothing but love and understanding from them and yet Cassie still felt compelled to ask the question that had been plaguing her thoughts since she had returned to England.

 **Do you think that I'm a psychopath?**

Although everyone was thinking the same thing, somewhat surprisingly it was Gabby who was the first to respond, crawling into Cassie's lap and hugging her tightly.

"Non. You saved me. You saved my sister. You avenged my ... my parents." The little blonde sniffed back her tears and burrowed deeper into Cassie's embrace. "I don't care that you killed them. I'm _glad_ that you killed them." She looked wetly into the emerald eyes of her saviour. "You are not a psychopath ... you are a heroine. You are my herione and I am never going to let you forget that."

"I'm with little Gabby. Any one of us here would have done the same if we could have ... well okay maybe not the weird head thing but killing those murdering, rapist fucking Death Eaters?" The ginger girl let out a low, fierce growl. "Definitely."

One by one they gave Cassie their assurances of their continuing love and loyalty, of their pride in their often scary but always sweet and protective leader. They loved her and they always would. Every one of them felt it and every one of them let her know it, some with humour, some with tears, but all with complete adoration and respect.

Cuddled up together in their bed an hour or so later Susan and Cassie continued to dissect the events of the last couple of days and their reactions to them.

 **I think they're a bit scared of me now Suze.**

"Sweetheart anyone who's met you would have to be very stupid to not be at least a little bit scared of you."

 **Are you?**

Susan saw the concern in her girlfriend's eyes and stroked her cheek lovingly.

"No honey." She kissed her lover gently on lips before continuing. "I mean it's not to say that you can't be intense and creepy and more than a bit frightening but you can also be sweet and kind and caring." Each one these descriptions was punctuated with another kiss. "A psychopath wouldn't have put the effort that you have into keeping these girls safe. A psychopath wouldn't love me like you do. Alright?"

 **'Kay.**

Susan 'awwwed' at her adorably cute girlfriend and set about showing her exactly how 'not scared' of her she really was and when the physically and mentally exhausted girl fell asleep in her arms a little while later she smiled contentedly. She didn't care that her lover had the capacity within herself to maim and kill without hesitation or remorse. Cassandra Evans-Black could slaughter thousands, she could burn the whole world to the ground and Susan would still be there. Right by her side. Now and forever.

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 **(((((((((x))))))))**

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As the events at Delacour Villa had been classified as 'top secret' by both the British and French Ministries the details of it were, of course, common knowledge for the entire population within the day. The papers were full of the Death Eater attack in France and editorials condemning the attempted resurrection of the costly 'blood war' and praising the actions of certain high profile members of wizarding high society were all over the inside pages.

One voice, however, was conspicuously missing from this great raft of opnion and wild speculation. Rita Skeeter was playing it smart. She was going to scoop the whole of the publishing world by getting an interview with the major players in this little drama and she wouldn't be doing it exclusively for The Daily Prophet. She had quit that morning, exchanging the security of a permanent, paid position for the vague freedom that life as a freelancer offered. A freelancer who would be working, if she could arrange it, for the promotion of the ideals of a certain wizarding clan.

Dumbledore's political power and influence was ebbing, not that he couldn't still make things very difficult and uncomfortable for her, but she saw the way the wind was blowing. Had done for some time in fact. It was why she had walked that tight-rope in her reports on the Tri-Wizard Tounament between the powerful old Chief Warlock and the rising star of the Black heiress, not being outwardly or overly supportive or censorious of either party. This precarious balancing act had kept her in the position of respected neutral observer but now it was time for Rita to make a difficult decision. It was time to choose a side. The safety of Dumbledore and the status quo or the hard but possibly more rewarding road of the The Black Witch.

She chose the House of Black.

The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black had done what all good leaders had done for centuries and at the first hint of a threat had pulled their family, friends, and allies to their London stronghold. She approved both of their power and of their shifting stance on traditions that had kept witches under the feet of their male counterparts for far too long. The leadership that the primary heiress of that fine old family would provide in the future was what she had been waiting for for too long now.

The misogeny and 'boys club' mentality of the wizarding world had always chafed on her hidden feminist ideals and even kept her down in her career. She had lost count of the number of her male colleages who had been promoted over her head, given the pick of the assignments just because they had a penis. It was even worse in the political arena although there were a few tough and determined women there at least. Women like Augusta Longbottom and of course Amelia Black nee Bones. She looked at the House of Black and saw that if the fortunes of witches in their society was ever going to change it would be due to the exploits of the powerful and ruthless young women who made up the younger generation of that clan. They had seriously impressed her with their drive and intelligence and togetherness, which was not an easy thing to do and she vowed now to help them in their quest of a better Britain.

Of couse there were very strict rules about this sort of thing in the upper echelons of wizarding society and Rita Skeeter was having to make sure that she took a great deal of care to do this properly. The first step was to contact the Head of the family and request a formal meeting in private which was why she was here in the backwater wizarding village of Rhyngaar in North Wales.

Entering the dingy general store which doubled up as the post owl office Rita fished around in her ugly but useful old brown leather bag for her pre-written mesage and a few galleons and approached the girl at the counter. She caught sight of the large poster of Cassandra Evans-Black in her skimpy and daring battle outfit with scythe and wand in hand, super-imposed on the green and white Welsh flag and smiled at the legend beneath it.

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 **a wnaed yng nghymru (made in Wales)**

.

She had definitely come to the right place. The people out here in the remote parts her homeland loved and adored the 'Du Wrach' or the 'Black Witch' in English and their pride in her was clear and tangible. Rita could almost taste it in the air. It made this the perfect location to send her message from. Nobody here knew who she was and even if they did they would certainly not be asking questions of why she was writing to the Blacks.

"I would like to send a mesage to Lord Sirius and Lady Amelia Black. Do you have a suitably reliable post owl?"

The girl at the counter blinked rapidly at these names, squeaked out an apology and hurried off to get the manager so that he could deal with this, obviously very important, custoner. Hardly anyone bar the few local wizard families used their tiny, rural sub-office of the post owl network and certainly no-one who had regular dealings with such lofty and high powered individuals. This kind of thing was far above her pay grade and she was more than happy to hand it off to her boss.

As Rita emerged out into the daylight she heard a fluttering of wings and turned to see a small tawny owl rising from the rear of the store that she had just left. It flew in a couple of lazy circles around the village to gain some height before setting it's course and streaking off to the South East and the London fortress home of the House of Black. She knew that the people who that letter was destined for were, above all else, pragmatists and knew that they would see her value to them. It was simply a question of whether she could impress them enough with her fervour for change. Apparating back to her tiny apartment she made some tea and settled down to await the reply that would determine not just her future but that of the whole country.

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 **Your reviews are oh so** _ **precious**_ **to me but not necessary. I'm certainly not going to hold you guys to ransom over them.**

 **Good? Bad? Leave your thoughts although you can always PM me with ideas, suggestions, comments if you want. Dylan the Rabbit. xx**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for the reviews that you guys have been sending, they have certainly given me a lot to think about as we go forward. In particular the various reactions to Fleurdamorte's continuing personal development have touched a chord with me and I'm going to start pushing those themes forward a lot more as we continue.**

 **If you have ideas, suggestions or want to see something happen then put it in a review or give me a PM. As you have seen in Silent World I am more than happy to adapt it as we go if I find something that you've suggested helpful, useful or just plain amusing.**

 **I still don't own Harry Potter otherwise I'd be writing all day instead of working to pay the bills.**

 **Dylan the Rabbit. xx**

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 **Season of The Witch.**

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 **5\. Don't Speak.**

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Following the identification of those involved in the attack on Delacourt Villa Dumbledore had seen a great opportunity to strip the Death Eaters of their wealth and divert it to a good cause. His cause. He had spent a few hours garnering support among all of those members of the Wizangamot that he could and then proposed an emergency motion to do just that. All of the families involved were to be censured, fined and then booted from the august body with their family names being wiped from the records. Naturally some of the more prominent and wealthier Ancient and Noble Houses had been spared the indignity of being relegated to common status and removed from the Wizangamot voting roster by paying out massive bribes but the House of Malfoy was, surprisingly perhaps, not one of these special cases.

Narcissa and Draco sat in silence with identical, upright postures on the sofa at Twelve Grimmuald Place as Lady Amelia Black gently explained to them what the Wizangamot had decided.

"So the name of Malfoy is still useable but it would be a bankrupt, common House forever associated with a Dark Lord famous for rape and murder?"

"That is unfortunately the case Narcissa." Amelia hesitated. "You should know that the House of Black will stand by you if you decide to keep the name, but I do believe that Cassie is going to extend an offer to bring you both into the House proper."

Mother and son did a bit of a double take at this interesting and unexpected piece of news.

"You didn't hear that from me, okay."

Neither of the blondes in the room had to ask why. Their cousin Cassandra could be the sweetest, most reasonable person in the world one minute but the second that you did something she didn't like she could become incredibly angry and upset. Not all the time mind you. Sometimes she would be the consumate politician and a credit to Walburga's teachings of 'the subtle Black way' but at other times her temper would be let loose and she became the dangerous young woman that her legend told of. Honestly she had begun to remind Narcissa more and more of her oldest sister but marginally less batshit insane. It was a sobering thought that Bellatrix would have been even more dangerous than she already was if she could have shown a little of that restraint that Cassie occasionally did.

Not that the girl had been exactly restrained at Delacour Villa the other night. In fact from what Sirius and Amelia had told her she had lost it so impressively and to such an extent that only one of those attackers had actually even made it past her and out of the building, if only to be executed by the waiting French aurors. That the said attacker was her husband had been the cause of no little concern to her. Oh it wasn't that he was dead. Lucius had been on a collision course with that particular fate for as long as she had known him, anyone who followed that monster Voldemort was. No it was more the fact that, even from beyond the grave, he had still managed to embarrass her in front of her Head of House.

Even after she had been married off Narcissa had still always considered herself a Black, much to Lucius' annoyance, and made sure that she kept up with all the internal dealings of the house of her birth which was how she knew that although Sirius was the named Head of House it was Cassandra who ruled from the shadows. A good job too really since her idiot first cousin Sirius was about as reliable as a Catholic condom. He was far too easy going and nice for his own good as had been aptly demonstrated by his decade long imprisonment in Azkaban. That had been an utter debacle from the very start, the transparent manipulation by those in power had fooled no-one but since Sirius hadn't bothered to play the political game in his youth his supporters had been few and far between causing him to languish for over a decade in the wizarding prison.

Until Cassandra had come along that is. Narcissa had then seen what old Walburga had got so excited about in the violent teenager, in her determination and single minded purpose to get what she wanted and create the family that she had always craved. She had seen the birth of a true Black. She even looked like one. The fact that, now that the girl had let her hair grow out, she looked so much like Bella, apart from those fascinating cold, emerald green eyes obviously, was a bit disconcerting but given her natural father's heritage it wasn't too surprising. The Black genes always were stronger than they should be and they had certainly come out in full force in Cassandra despite her questionable blood from her mother. The looks, the attitude, the violence, she was the epitome of a 'Black princess' and someone who Narcissa was prepared to bend her knee to if it led to her and Draco being accepted back into the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.

The Malfoy name had been sullied beyond repair by her moronic husband and although she had shared many of his views on blood status she wasn't going to let them prevent her from keeping her hard won position in the upper echelons of society. That famous Black pragmatism had flexed it's impressive muscles in both her and, more surprisingly, her son and they were only too pleased to dump Lucius' dishonoured name if it meant that the financial and political power of her old House would be theirs for the asking. Draco had apparently learned more from her than from his idiot father if his secret dealings with young Cassandra and her crew were to be believed which was a blessed relief to her.

Draco himself was feeling almost jubilant. His father had always been far too quick to punish the slightest of his indiscretions with his hands or his wand and it was for that as much as for his squandering of Draco's inheritance that he had not mourned the man's passing. His mother had definitely thawed a bit lately and apppeared to be much happier too. He was aware that she had almost despaired that his lack of Slytherin tendancies would be his downfall in the House of the snakes but now it seemed that he would, ironically enough, be targetted for his cunning and subtly developed ties to the Black heiress. The girl who had just slaughtered many of their parents and House Heads.

The Death Eater families who had not been disenfranchised like the Notts, the Carrows and the Mulcibers would no doubt be waging a vendetta with the Blacks and they were a considerable force in Slytherin. They and their allied lesser Houses were going to be out for revenge against the girl-who-lived to behead Death Eaters and all those associated with her. Basically if your name was Black, as his would soon be if he accepted his cousin's generosity, then you were a target to these people and his position in the green and silver Hogwarts House would become completely untenable. And very bloody dangerous. To survive at school next year he, along with Greg and probably Vince as well, were going to have to find somewhere else to sleep at the very least. Perhaps it was something that he could ask his new Head of House since it was technically her fault that they were in this position.

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 **(((((((((x))))))))**

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For the second time in two days Cassie found herself being escorted to the Department of Mysteries by the Minister of Magic himself. Handily, however, this time she had the magnificent distracting influence of Luna Lovegood to keep him from annoying her to the point at which she could be tempted to stick her dagger between his ribs to stop him talking shite. Her little blonde friend had managed to keep him so far off kilter with her insane chatter about snorcacks, nargles and bilbering humdingers that he was barely able to say two words to her. Not that he seemed terribly enthusiastic about engaing her in conversation anyway since he had caught sight of the eight foot snake draped around her shoulders. A more than positive result in her book.

So it was that by the time they had left the elevator and walked the short distance to the strangest and most secretive Government Department Cassie was in a far better mood than her previous visit but then hanging out with Luna always did have that effect on her. Apparently her infectious brand of lunacy was also more than welcomed by Mister Croaker as well who greeted both girls with equal amounts of enthusiasm before he turned wide eyed to Cassie's familiar.

"Hello my scaly friend. My word but aren't you a magnificent specimen. Short tailed Borneo python yes?"

Cassie nodded, beaming with pride and turned to her familiar.

 _"Say hello to Mister Croaker Shortcake."_

The delight in the old man's face was obvious as he watched the snake respond to it's mistress and peer closely at him tasting the air with his tongue which flickered around wildly. Chuckling to himself he stroked the snake's head while the girl smiled brightly at him all the while hissing and 'chattering' to it. It had been so long since he had seen a parselmouth in action and he was mesmerised by the hypnotic back and forth between the two of them.

Once the introductions were out of the way Saul Croaker gave his young visiors the full tour of his department and their wonder and excitement gave him a fresh new insight into what had become just his place of work. Looking at their bright eyed enthusiasm he was starting to remember why he had been so excited himself when he had been chosen to work here all those years ago.

Having left the exquisitely strange Miss Lovegood with one of his more trusted employees in the great museum of oddities that was the department's library, Saul led the Black heiress to the door that she had been so interested in during her visit yesterday.

"Welcome to the Hall of Prophecies Miss Evans-Black."

The spheres of light were on short pillars arranged in neat rows and columns in the vast space of the magically enlarged room. Cassie was quite surprised by the sheer amount of them until her host explained that they stetched back for centuries and not all of them had been, or indeed would ever be, fulfilled. She sniggered to herself remembering Hermione's rather acerbic comments of the 'art' of divination in general and the Hogwarts professor of that subject in particular. That the words 'crock of shit' and 'dozy old tart' had been used quite liberally in that conversation by her normally prim and proper bushy haired friend spoke volumes about her views on it's academic value and general usefulness. What she couldn't deny, however was that _something_ was trying to get her attention.

She pulled at Mister Croaker's sleeve and the pair set off in pursuit. They wandered down the rows for a while followling the flow of the magic that called out to Cassie being stronger and more insitent the closer they got finally stopping in front of one marked as 'S.P.T to A.P.W.B.D; Dark Lord and (?) Cassandra Evans'. Saul was just wondering how the rather short fifteen year old was going to reach the glowing orb that only she could touch before she stunned him with her power again. Cassie appeared to study it for a moment and then wandlessly summoned the sphere right into her hands with ridiculous ease.

 _"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark her as his equal, but she will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."_

As the ethereal voice tailed off Saul searched Cassie's face minutely for her reaction to the gloomy prophecy that was so clearly about her and Voldemort. Not much if her resulting shrug and grin was to believed. He didn't think for one minute that she didn't understand the message, intelligence was a far a more dificult thing to hide than stupidity, which meant that she most likely simply didn't care. Perhaps it was her predisposition to believe that divination was a flawed and not entirely useful branch of magic then. She definitely wasn't alone in that belief.

Still it wasn't _always_ wrong. What intrigued him more than the acual wording or validity of the prophecy, however, was the fact it was was Miss Evans-Black and Fleur Delacour who had been so intent on this. The young Black witch had certainly been one of the prophesied but the veela girl hadn't so why had both of them been drawn to it.

Saul Croaker had been thinking about that. Magic was a funny and finicky thing and it took a powerful wizard or witch to be able to feel the pull of a prophecy and the chances of both of these girls being that powerful were pretty damned slim even if they were both Tri-Wizard champions. If, as he suspected, the French witch had been responding to the same stimulus as Miss Evans-Black then that meant that there was a very deep connection between the two of them. A connection like both being part of the same prophecy. And if he followed _that_ line of thinking to it's natural conclusion then that would mean that Fleur Delacour must be the only other person mentioned in that prophecy. Lord Voldemort.

Saul was aware what resurrecting oneself in this manner entailed, the dark deeds of torture, murder and sacrifice that it took. This meant the darkest and most dangerous of magics. This meant a horcrux, or more likely consdering that it was Voldemort that they were talking about, multiple horcruxes.

The question that faced him now was whether or not he should tell his visitor of his suspicions. It was a much more tricky decision than it at first seemed, for as much as he liked and was highly amused by his visitor, he wasn't convinced that pointing her at the veela was in the best interests of the country. Cassie did have a tendancy to hit first and think later when it came to her enemies and the sort of mess that the two powerful young witches could make if they went full out at each other didn't bear thinking about. Also he got the impression that the former Dark Lord was taking a much more careful, subtle and circumspect approach than his previous attempts at domination. The fact that he chosen to resurrect himself as a girl was the most obvious indication to this change in attitude so perhaps he should encourage his violent guest to follow a similar path.

Providing her with the appropriate texts and then leaving her to find the information herself and draw her own conclusions was probably the safest path to take here.

Returning to the library he took down an incredibly rare and very dusty tome down from a hidden shelf behind his desk and handed it to the closely watching teenager. Once again Saul Croaker had the uncomfortable feeling that she knew precisely what he was doing and why he was doing it even though he hadn't yet felt any probes on his occlumency barriers. Thinking that if she were going up against Voldemort and given her poor relationship with Dumbledore she would definitely need the protection that occlumency provided he pulled out another book and added it.

Cassie was extremely excited to be given books from the Department of Mysteries and as much as she had hoped it might happen she had never actually believed that it would. Cradling her newest leather bound acquisitions as careully as she would a newborn baby she stroked the spines and read the titles. _From Bonds to Black Rituals; Soul Magics Explained._ and _Magicks of the Mind._ Then of course Cassie's naturally paranoid and suspicious brain began to make it's presence felt and she looked at him calculatingly, wondering why he had chosen these specific books for her. There was obviously a reason for it, men like Croaker never did anthing without one.

As usual Luna Lovegood provided a useful and amusing distraction for the weighty thoughts of others.

"Hello Mister Brain you look bored. Do you want to play with me?"

Watching the kooky blonde attempting to play peek-a-boo with a disembodied brain was just the tonic that everyone needed. Even Shortcake had been feeling Cassie's unease since the prophecy had been revealed and he hissed out his srange reptillian laughter as he too watched Luna's oddly one sided, but still fun looking, game.

 _"Oh mistress Cass being you're familiar is ssso rewarding in ssso many unexpectedly fun ways."_

Cassie wondered how exactly a snake could manage to hiccough with laughter but decided that if anyone could make it happen it would be Luna. She steeped up to her peculiar friend, wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed her on the cheek before joining in her eccentric game. She could do with some fun after the last two days and if there was one thing that Luna knew how to do it was fun. She huffed out her quiet laughter as she imagined what trouble the two them could get into in this interesting and dangerous place and the few unspeakables on duty shivered as they thought the same thing.

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Upstairs in the Minister's Office Fudge was holding a private meeting with his under-secretary. Delores Umbridge was a sort of friend and usefully passionate attack dog to send after his political enemies but she did have a tendancy to go overboard even when given extremely explicit instructions on what she was and was not allowed to do. Since his target this time was the Chief Warlock himself, Albus almighty bloody Dumbledore he couldn't really afford the fallout if she did decide to stray off of the path which they had agreed upon.

He might be an complete idiot in everybody's opinion apart from his own but he did have at least _some_ political savvy. If he didn't he would never have held on to his position for as long as he had. He was afraid of Dumbledore's popularity and wanted to politcally castrate the elderly wizard and the first step was to get him out of Hogwarts. It was a decent plan but it relied on someone who he would never normally have trusted for such a subtle job. Delores didnt really do subtle. Unfortunately her other political contacts made saying no to her rather difficult so all he could do was to try and temper some of the worst excesses of which he knew her to be capable with some good advice. Who knows, some of it might get through that thick skull of hers.

"Dolores, you do understand how carefully you must tread here, don't you?" He studied her possibly smiling face for a minute before realising that she very well might not understand. "It's all very well going after Dumbledore but you will need to keep a tight rein on those blood purity ideals of yours."

"I most certainly will not, they are at the heart of everything that we are trying to achieve here."

The Minister sighed heavily.

"Let me put it this way Dolores. If you start in on the mudbloods and the halfies then you will very likely lose whatever influence that you manage to build with Miss Evans-Black by neutering the headmaster. This is not the 'Toujours Pur' Black family of old we are dealing with here, if naming a half blood as their primary heiess wasn't enough of a clue for you then think about how they have extended their protection to at least two muggle born families in the last twenty four hours."

That did make her stop and think. In truth she had entirely forgotten that young Cassandra was a half blood and, as usual when it came to the inner dealings of the older families, Cornelius was right. She nodded to him and smiled one of her awful, sickly smiles before mentally tearing her most of her plans for her teaching tenure, deciding that she needed to be decidedly more cunning in her approach. Like Fudge, Delores was not a stupid woman but unlike him she was more than aware of her faults. Cunning and subtelty were not her forte, she had always required a perfectly formulated plan before embarking on any project and on one so important as this that meant that she needed some specialist help. Now who was the most cunning and slippery person that owed her a favour? Her smile became a grin as she realised the answer.

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The rooms that the Tonks family had been assigned in Bones Manor were the same ones that they had occupied some days earlier when they had been visiting for Sirius and Amelia's wedding. The only difference this time around was that they had an extra body staying with them in their suite. Their metamorph daughter had simply refused to be separated from the newly orphaned blonde veela from virtually the first second that they had arrived back in Britain. Ted and Andromeda hadn't really had an issue with this since Fleur was considerably more suitable than some of the ruffians and oddballs that she had brought home in the past. Prettier too.

The elder Tonks' had long since given up trying to control their daughter's love life and now just acccepted whoever was sharing her bed with little more than a grunt and a passing wave but the delightful Miss Delacour was treated like one of the family almost immediately. This had stunned their little Nymphadora and judging from her reactions Fleur was finding it just as surprising.

Honestly it was more the fact that she was sharing a bed with her 'saviour' that was bringing up some rather strange and wholly unexpected feelings for Fleurdamorte and giving her that constantly surprised look. In fact it was the imprisoned Fleur who, having learned how to do it, had slowly been releasing her veela's more sexual nature, allowing it to seep un-noticed into the conciousness of Fleurdamorte fom her mental cage. It had begun to affect the secret, burgeoning Dark Lady in ways that she had no way of comprehending.

As Tom Riddle and then Voldemort she had never been slave to the more visceral, natural urges that plagued most of the human race in their teens and twenties. There had always been more new things to learn, more new discoveries to make and she had simply never even thought about sex other than it's ability to make complete and utter fools of otherwise intelligent and focused people. These feelings that her 'host' was subtly leaking into her psyche then were disturbing on all kinds of levels to Fleurdamorte.

It had started the night that she returned from France following her perfectly stage managed attack on Delacour Villa. Laying barely clothed in the safe, strong arms of auror Tonks she had begun to feel uncomfortably warm. She had lain there becoming more and more agitated as she began to itch and ache in her nether regions before finally resorting to trying occlumency, breathing exercises and even a buddhist mantra or two to calm the fire down below. None of it worked and she endured a sleepless night.

Fleurdamorte was well versed in human physiognomy and intellectually speaking at least she had always believed that she had understood the concept of sexual desire. This desire, however, was something that could never and _would_ never be intellectualised. It was a living breathing, pulsing raw emotion that swept up and carried away all who became entangled in it's thorny and passionate embrace. When she finally made the mental leap that linked her new found feelings of irritation and frustration to this emotional sexual maelstrom she could have screamed and unprepared was a wholly inadequate word to describe how she felt right now.

Although she had used the promise of it as a means to ensnare and promote loyalty among her followers in her past incarnation, sex and sexual feelings in any form for herself was not something that she had ever expected to become an issue. Now it was though she would not back away from it. And as a supposed half veela French witch in her post pubescent prime she _could_ not back away from it without causing a great deal of suspicion. It was time for the witch formally known as Tom Riddle to embrace sex as something more than simply a tool to control others or an abstract concept for the first time in her life.

And frankly it could be a lot worse. Nymphadora Tonks was a cool, confident, charismatic and strikingly handsome young woman. Woman being the operative word. If she absolutely had to start humping someone like some kind of unrestrained animal then it damn sure wasn't going to be some penis wielding man who would attempt to control her at every opportunity. Girls were certainly the way forward for Fleurdamorte and so it might as well be a smart and pretty girl like Tonks who totally adored her. And who she adored in turn ...

Wait. What. Where the hell did _that_ thought come from.

She most certainly did _not_ adore Tonks. Or anyone else for that matter. Love was an unwanted and un-needed distraction and a dangerous one at that. Lust she would accept as a useful tool for her plans going forward but love could kiss her perfectly formed derriere if it imagined that she was going to allow it to get it's hooks in the mighty Dark Lady Fleurdamorte.

Just then the object of her confusion, while attempting to help the elves and with an enormous crash, managed to drop an entire tray of teacups, teapot, plates, cakes and all before tripping again on the rug and landing on top of the entire mess.

"For Merlin's bloody sake Nymphadora are you _trying_ to get your work clothes dirty."

Fleur smirked at Tonks as Andromeda fussed around her daughter scourgifying her clothes before licking her thumb and wiping the remnants of gooseberry jam away from her cheek in the time honoured manner of overbearing mothers everywhere. It wasn't like she was wrong in what she said though. The metamorphmagus had been looking for any excuse to avoid leavng her new girlfriend and going back to work and using her reputation for occasional clumsiness to engineer a food based 'accident' was just the kind of thing that she would do. However Fleurdamorte desperately needed some distance from the clingy auror for her own sanity and decided to make sure that Tonks returned to her job this afternoon.

"Allez. Off to work with you my big, beautiful, brave auror I will be absoutely fine here." She smirked suddenly and wickedly at her older girlfriend. "Besides your mother and I have many important things to discuss such as where I can find adorable Dora Tonks baby photographs and the like."

"You wouldn't." The pink haired auror looked truly horrified at the thought.

"Would you really deny me the opportunity to see you naked? I bet you looked cute even then."

The coughing fit that semed to take control of 'Dora' at this point threatened to turn the young woman permanently red which was not helped by her mother piping up that she had many albums full of such pictures of her adorable little girl.

"Oh for fucks sake. I'm going to work."

Raucous and delighted laughter followed the red faced, pink haired young woman as she grabbed her auror cloak and fled the room, heading for the safety of the DMLE offices. Her mum's evil little guilt trips, when pressuring her to 'be good' was bad enough on her own without Fleur bloody joining in. She literally could not say no to that girl and had discovered that the only way she could avoid being talked into something awful and embarrassing was to vacate the premises as swiftly as possible.

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Shelley had been the chief house elf for the Noble House of Bones for the six years since the passing of it's previous chief elf Sercie and prior to that, nusemaid to it's red headed heiress Susan. In all her time she had never known the huge, old mansion to be this fully occupied before. Bones Manor hadn't been this full of life for many, many years and the little elf was in her element, popping around between the kitchen and the various rooms full of hungry, thirsty and sometimes naughty people. She was well used to the eccentricities of humans and therefore had no comment to make on the fact that some of these temporary residents in her domain kept very much to themselves without deigning to interract with anyone else.

Of course this didn't include the little Miss and all of her sweet and exciteable friends, like Miss Susan's 'special snuggle kitty' girl, who were almost always together somewhere, causing trouble. They were so close, in fact, that none of the Misses seemed to be able to sleep unless there was at least one of the others in the bed with them. Again she had no comment. Little Miss adored them and they her so all such rules about sleeping arrangements were waived for them.

The family room was where, traditionally, all the most important moments had happened in Bones Manor and today was to prove to be no exception. It started innocently enough with the group of Psycho Freaks and Gabrielle enquiring about Cassie and Luna's experiences in the lair of the unspeakables, the weirdly enticing Department of Mysteries.

"So did you have fun girls?"

Luna immediately went off on an extroadinarily detailed and _almost_ accurate explanation of their day's activities in the Department of Mysteries including the highy entertaining Mister Croaker's odd behaviour. Having taken some good natured ribbing for the fact that it was Cassie and Luna, of all people, finding someone else's behaviour to be odd, the Black heiress was then closely quizzed about what had got her looking so thoughtful since her return.

 **There's a prophecy about me and Voldie. It was a bit vague but then that old lush Trellawny made it so I'm not really that shocked.**

"Probably bollocks then." Hermione's muttered interruption managed to reduce the entire room to hysterics despite the seriousness of the subject.

 **We were in the hall of prophecy looking at the one involving me and the Dork Lord and he kept trying to tell me something about Fleur but without actually** _ **telling**_ **me. I think he wanted me to work it out for myself.**

It was no shock to the girls that the head unspeakable had thought that there was something amiss when it came to the French Tri-Wizard Tournament champion, Gabby had expressed the exact same reservations about Fleur herself. She had told them of her concerns over her older sister's mental state and of the changes that she had sensed in Fleur since she had returned from the graveyard that fateful day before the summer break. From her position curled up into the side of her quiet Welsh bondmate Cerys the little veela spoke up, asking the question that they all wanted an answer to.

"Did he give you any ideas about where to start looking."

 **I got books.**

Susan and the others smiled at her dreamy, faraway look, knowing that nothing other than her girlfriend could get Cassie quite as excited as getting new books to read and having new things to learn. She laid the ancient books out on the rug in front of the fire and quickly motioned wth her head for Hermione, who was practically drooling at the sight of them, to come and join her. The two kneeling girls had roughly identical looks of sheer wonder and pleasure on their faces as they cracked open the stiff leather covers and started to carefully leaf though the contents in search of whatever this connection was between the two former champions. As the others quietly slipped from their seats and surrounded them the serious business of researching the secrets held within these ancient tomes began. These books could well give them the information which they hoped would keep them all safe for the coming year and the fact that they would also be extremely useful in discovering what was going on with Gabby's big sister was a useful bonus.

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 **Your reviews are oh so** _ **precious**_ **to me but not necessary. I'm certainly not going to hold you guys to ransom over them.**

 **Good? Bad? Leave your thoughts although you can always PM me with ideas, suggestions, comments if you want. Dylan the Rabbit. xx**


	6. Chapter 6

**So I think that my original estimate of 150k words is going to be hopelessly inadequate. At the moment with all the ideas that I have swimming around in my head and with my intention to keep fleshing out many of the more minor players in this story we might actually be looking at close to double what I was aiming for.**

 **As always if you have ideas, suggestions or want to see something happen then put it in a review or give me a PM. As you have seen in Silent World I am more than happy to adapt it as we go if I find something that you've suggested helpful, useful or just plain amusing.**

 **I still don't own Harry Potter otherwise I'd be writing all day instead of working to pay the bills.**

 **Dylan the Rabbit. xx**

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 **Season of The Witch.**

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 **6\. Welcome to the Black Parade.**

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Two days after the attack everyone who had been residing at Twelve Grimmuald Place had re-located en masse to Bones Manor, which now technically belonged to Susan since Amelia had become Lady Black, in order to give the newlyweds some much needed time alone. After six days of rest and relaxation for most of the people there and some furious extra curricular reading by the Freaks it had been decided that most of them were going home tomorrow. Before they did that, however, a few things needed to be put into order and sorted out.

With a little over three weeks until the school year resumed there were some family decisions that needed to be made in order for them to be ready for the new term and their study of Mister Croaker's exciting books had to be put on hold for now. One of the major issues to be resolved was the safety at Hogwarts of her newly extended group of friends and family which was why all of the Psycho Freaks were sat around Susan's large formal dining table waiting for their guests to arrive.

The girls had spent a good long time in deciding whether or not to offer places in their Hogwarts House to those coming today and Cassie had allowed total voting freedom for a truly democratic decision on the four applicants to be offered admittance to the Psycho Freak ranks. Applicant was perhaps a misleading term as none of them bar one had any idea of why they had been summoned today.

Gabrielle was a given of course, well after they had talked Aunt Andromeda into using her influence with Fleur to allow her little sister to transfer from Beaubaxtons to Hogwarts anyway. It seemed that nobody, including Fleur, had wanted to let the newly orphaned smaller veela out of their sight since the attack. Indeed Cerys had even been lifted from her own situation in a foster home and, following some extensive _Confundus_ work from the ever helpful Tonks and another blood adoption courtesy of the Goblins, was now the latest Black sister. This had been done to ensure that the two bondmates were able to spend as much time together as possible as it soothed them both considerably.

The others that were going to be offered induction into their exclusive little club were a bit of an oddity in that they were boys, which had prompted a great deal of discussion among the girls. There was a not inconsiderable amount of nervousness about this, especially given the number of them who were gay and who it was that they were inviting in. Draco had spent much of the last two years making nasty little comments about their love lives and inclinations and athough he had apologised to each of them and clearly regretted his actions there was still quite some degree of mistrust there although not from Hermione, surprisingly, who was the one that had suffered most from him.

So there they sat, Draco Malfoy (now Black), Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, all of whom looked decidedly uncomfortable under the careful scutiny of the ten witches of Psycho Freak House, knowing that they needed but probably did not deserve their protection. From the other side of things there was also the added pressure that Cassie had been directly responsible for the violent deaths of all three of their fathers and the destruction of their Houses last week. This was going to be awkward.

"I would like to thank-you for your kind offer cousins and ladies and I accept your terms without resevation or regret." Draco paused a little nervously. "My behaviour towards many of you has been ... ah ... less than pleasant on far too many occasions in the past and your generosity in this matter is greatly appreciated. I am, therefore, honoured to be considered both part of your family and part of your House."

Cassie nodded in approval. Draco had kicked things off with a positive note and she was grateful for that. She had known that he was likely to accept, given his and his mother's quick acceptance of the offer to bring them back into the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black but now the considerably more unpredictable part of this 'Freak meet' was about to start. At Cassie's nod Susan gave them their agreed upon speech.

"Gregory, Vincent. We will understand if you wish to to decline our offer." Susan regarded them carefully but somewhat sympathetically. "And it is just that ... an offer ... neither of you are obliged to accept it and nobody here is going to hold any grudges if you don't, especially considering that ... "

As the red head seemed to falter with a very out of character display of nerves and the more forthright and Gryffindorish Ginny finished up her sentence for her.

"Considering that my sister here killed both of your fathers in France last week and choped their heads off."

The resulting silence was deafening.

"May I say something to Miss Black ... umm ... Miss Black?"

"Vincent there are now five Blacks in this House, six with Draco, I think for our own sanity that you're going to have to start calling us all by our first names."

The mask that he had practiced so hard for so many years slipped infinitessimally as the indicated blonde aristocrat's lip twitched at the giggles that this observation by Charlotte provoked.

"Right-o." The thick set young man gathered himself. "Miss Cassie my dad wasn't very nice to me or to my mum. He wasn't a good father and he wasn't a good man. I'm not saying that losing him was easy but in the end I think that he got exactly what he deserved. That being said my only reservation about taking up your offer would be the little Miss' feelings about us being here after he ... did what he did."

Inclining his head in the direction of Cerys and Gabby while keeping his eyes rivetted to the glossy sufface of the table, the clearly embarrassed young man waited for their response. Gabrielle Delacour glanced at her girlfriend and bondmate briefly and receiving her smile and nod of silent agreement reached across to pat the hand of the red faced boy.

"You don't need to be embarrassed Vincent, we cannot control what our relatives do and we do not hold you responsible for their actions."

The Welsh girl picked up the point and carried on.

"We took a vote yesterday on this and it was a unanimous yes. Besides Gabby had power of veto over anyone related to what happened in France so if we didn't want you in you wouldn't be here in the first place."

He seemed to accept this explanation with only a slight wipe of his eyes and heaving sigh that the others in the room politely pretended not to notice.

Greg Goyle was a much simpler proposition as his then recently widowed father had left his son in the 'care' of some distant relatives in Caerphilly over ten years previously. In all honesty he barely remembered the man and those memories that he did have were not exactly pleasant, in fact the only good thing that he had done in his miserable life was to leave before he did irreparable damage to his son. He held no ill will to Cassie for her execution of his absentee Death Eater parent and leapt enthusiastically at the chance to become a major part of the life of this real life Welsh heroine. Subtle and cunning had never really been his thing and he was more than happy to leave the probable perils that Slytherin held for him this coming year and join the Freaks.

Once they had all given their oaths of loyalty to the House and been issued with their 'How to sign' books with promises of help and tutoring the conversation became decidedly less formal and more fun.

"Can I ask a question Miss Cassie?"

 **Yes Greg.**

Having made sure to nod in response as well as signing slowly and carefully Cassie was gratified to see him looking through his 'how to sign' book and paying a great deal of attention to her moving hands. Seemingly satisfied that she had answered in the positive he made his request.

"Do any of you ladies play quidditch and if so would we be able to form a House team for this year?"

"Yes!"

Ginny shouted and punched the air enthusiastically while Cassie thumped her head repeatedly on the table. She fucking hated quidditch. Stupid, dangerous, pointless bloody game. And Viktor 'bastard' Krum had played it which, if she hadn't before, would have instantly made her despise it. She had manged to get away with them not having a team last year due to their lack of numbers, however, now that the boys had joined and with at least two of the younger girls looking almost rabid at the idea Cassie thought that their House being involved in this ridiculous game was pretty much inevitable.

 **Fucking quidditch. Kill me now.**

The chuckling Susan patted her arm in sympathy but was secretly quite pleased by this turn of events. She would never let on to her girlfriend but, like almost everyone else who had been raised in a wizarding household, she was actually a bit of a fan of the sport and had even played it occasionally when Cassie was otherwise engaged. The red head thought that this year at school could turn out to be more fun than ever.

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Nerves were causing Rita Skeeter to fidget, unconsciously tapping her fingers rapidly on the arms of the hard, wooden chair where she was sat in Gringotts meeting room. The elder generation of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black were arrayed before her and regarding her as if she was some kind of fascinating new creature in Newt Scamander's Magical Creature Reserve. Sirius, Amelia, Andomeda and Narcissa stared at her, weighing her up, judging her worth and all the while their lawyer (and Andromeda's husband) sat scribbling away, making messy notes on his funny yellow pad. It seemed that they had all been taking lessons in how to be 'silently creepy and scary' from their primary heiress, Cassandra.

She had made her careful request, given her well thought through arguments and now it was just a question of sitting here patiently to await their decision.

It was a bit of a surprise that the young woman herself wasn't here today actually since it was rather obvious to anyone who bothered to look that the Black Witch was the one who really ran the House of Black. Rita found herself to be somewhat disappointed in spite of the fact that the emerald eyed teenager was pants wettingly scary when she pinned you with that cold, hard gaze of hers. She assumed that the girl knew about this meeting and had given Lord Black the authority to make a deal without her. Still she would rather speak to the organ grinder than the monkeys. That thought almost made her chuckle to herself but she managed to keep her composure as the darkly handsome ex Azkaban inmate gave the family's response.

"Miss Skeeter." Sirius Black paused and sent a questioning look at the others who rather impatiently indicated for him to continue. "The House of Black does not normally engage in this kind of thing, publicity that is. Traditionally the family has taken care of it's ... _business_ quietly, however, we have agreed that having a talented and independant person to give our side of things in the public arena may be of some use."

Translation; The Blacks were intersted in retaining her services.

She heaved a huge sigh of relief. Her gamble had paid off and now, barring any overly unreasonable exclusions in the detail of their agreement, she would be enjoying the benefits that came with being under the protection of one of the oldest and most powerful Houses in the country. Not that she was worried about that. It may not always seem like it given the kind of articles that she had sometimes written in the past, but Rita had a very keen eye for detail and they would have to work very hard to get something like that past her. This confidence in her negotiation skills evaporated the second that the wolfishly smiling Cassandra Evans-Black strolled nonchalantly into the meeting on the arm of Ragnok, the Director of Gringotts Bank, himself. They looked awfully chummy and she knew that one did not gain the dubious honour of being respected by the goblins by being weak.

Rita was right to be concerned as it happened since between them the girl and her goblin confidante took her to the cleaners on the terms of the contract. In return for an intial interview and an admittedly rather sizeable financial retainer she would have to be pretty much at the beck and call of the Blacks, which wasn't too bad but they would also have final say over anything that she wrote for publication involving their family or that of any of their allies. The penalties for breaking the contract also made for fairly grim reading. The darkest and deadliest of the wizarding Houses would basically own her, body and soul for the rest of her working life unless she fancied a change of careers.

On the positive side, the interview that she was being offered with Cassandra Evans-Black, auror Tonks and, most tellingly Fleur Delacour, would make her reputation as a serious journalist around the World and, if properly managed, the syndication rights would set her up financially for the rest of her life. Combined with the opportunity for her to be in at the start of, what she was sure was going to be, the Great British Witches revolution that the 'girl-who-lived' and her merry band of psychos were going to lead it was more than enough for her to sign on the dotted line.

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Lord Sirius Orion Black and his Lady Amelia watched the two witches sat in front of the ornate desk in the Head's private study at Grimmuald Place swinging their legs and looking all sweet and innocent. They clearly had no idea why he had called them in here and just as clearly had been up to something that they didn't want him to find out about, hence the good little girls act. He decided that it was probably better that he didn't know anyway and just got straight on to the business of the day.

"So I know that we've joked around about it before but I think it's time we talked seriously about a betrothal contract for you two."

"I thought you were Sirius."

Cassie snorted in amusement at Susan's use of her dad's favourite pun against him and shared a high with the red head while the man himself tried not to shake his head and smile at the grinning, giggling little cows.

"Yes thank-you Susan." His totally insincere scowl of disapproval prompted nothing more conciliatory than crossed eyes and a poked out tongue from his heiress' girlfriend. "Well I'm afraid that since that stupid bloody Tournament finished I've been getting almost daily requests for various alliances to be formalised by marriage." He pointed at Cassie with a nasty grin. "To you."

 **No fucking way.**

"Language dear."

 **Sorry mum.**

"Now ninety nine percent of these 'offers' I can simply ignore but there are a few from the Ancient and Noble Houses that I can't just decline out of hand without a very good reason. Obviously those offering males can be discounted due to your romantic inclinations but there have been some interesting developments." There were no smiles now from the marauder as he found this situation anything but funny. "The Houses of Parkinson, Greengrass, Patil and Bulstrode are all proposing female matches for you."

"Ooh Millicent Bulstrode, she's a _fox_! You lucky girl."

 **Why don't you go and get fu ...**

Amelia shot across the small room and her hands instantly closed over Cassie's to prevent an argument erupting between the girls. It was amazing to her just how little the two of them did actually argue considering the amount of time that they had been 'together'. Of course that usually meant that when they did have a quarrel it would probably be epic in it's scale, something which she was anxious to avoid today. Sirius looked between the three females in the room, stony faced for once at their antics as, once Amy was settled back in her chair next to him, he continued.

"Finished?" They nodded contritely and he carried on. "Good. Look this is seri ... important girls. Unless you two formalise your relationship with a betrothal agreement then these damned requests are just going to keep coming and there's only so many times I can say no before they take the matter to the Wizangamot and things get legal. And nasty."

"So what do we do? I mean I'm not averse to the idea of getting betrothed, it was always going to be on the cards for me anyway as last of the line, but I'd hoped for a litle more time before it was necessary."

Susan's statement put what felt like a shard of ice through Cassie's heart as she listened to it. Was she not as sure as Cassie was that they were meant to be together? Did her girlfriend not want her? The red head seemed to instantly realise her mistake.

"Oh sweetheart no, that's not what I meant. I just thought that we'd have more time to be girlfriends before all this betrothal stuff. It all just seems so horribly forced for you."

Cassie nodded slowly and thoughtfully for a few moments and then stroked Suzie's face gently.

 **Do you love me?**

"With all of my heart." Susan's response was immediate.

 **Do you believe that I love you?**

"With all of my heart." The second response was barely a whisper.

 **Then what else could possibly matter? Let's do this because we're in this for the long haul together, because we're as much soul mates as Gabby and Cerys are, because we're in love. I will never regret a single moment of the the time we have from now until the end of all things. I want to be with you always and if that means having an early betrothal then so be it. I will not lose you.**

"Oh Merlin and Morgana, we're getting betrothed!"

The two elder Blacks were holding hands beneath the desk and desperately trying not to cry as the girls launched themselves at each other sobbing and laughing and kissing in roughly equal measure. Sirius waited again until he had the undivided attention of the two weepy but excited young witches.

"With your stepmum still being Suzie's guardian it actually makes things a lot more simple than they might have otherwise been." He pulled a stiff parchment document and a blood quill towards himself and his wife. "We sign here." Both of them did so with a flourish. "And you place one of these on each others's left ring finger."

A dark cherrywood box was unlatched, opened and pushed across the desk. The matched pair of Black ancestral betrothal rings that it held were exquisitely beautiful and the mere sight of them shut Cassie and Susan up much more effectively than Sirius had ever managed. The reverent and almost ritualistic way in which they gave one another their promise of fidelity along with their meaningful new jewellry would have been incredibly sweet had they not ruined the moment seconds later by leaping up and running for the door. As the two teenagers dashed out of the study and headed for the stairs there was a shout of two adult voices joined as one screaming out.

"Silencing charms!"

Cassie and Susan were too distracted to hear anything but each other by this time and even if they hadn't been they wouldn't have applied the _muffliato_ charms. It was much more fun subjecting the other members of the household to the loud excesses of their noisy and enthusiastic love making. After all it just went to prove how much they loved each other and who could possibly be annoyed with that? As it turned out everyone within hearing distance could.

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Walburga Black was in her element. Cassie actually thought that she would have made a fairly decent teacher if you ignored the fact that she only seemed capable of giving instruction on the darkest and most dangerous forms of magic that she could find. So maybe not a Hogwarts professor then, although she couldn't be any worse than Quirrel or Lockhart and since she was already dead even Cassie would have found it difficult to kill her. Not impossible, mind you, just difficult.

"Training ladies and gentlemen is what makes us better than those who would conspire to do us harm. It is where we learn new skills and hone our existing ones to a razor sharp edge. And it is where we do NOT!" Her shrill, cutting tone rose to send a shiver through the gathered teens. "Chatter amongst ourselves when I am trying to make you into useful and productive members of our Noble and Most Ancient House."

Okay so with her ability to reduce the most hardened of teenaged tearaways (Luna) to a gibbering wreck she was probably more like a U.S. Marines drill instructor than a school teacher but the point still stood.

"Wands away my pretties you won't be needing them since today we are going to be learning what to do if your wand is broken, lost or stolen." The portrait of the dark matriarch paused as she selected a suitable target. "Draco Black what do you do if someone disarms you?"

"Run and hide?"

"No young man, Blacks don't run." She gave him a withering look. "Cerys Black. What would _you_ do?"

"Stab him in the balls granny."

"Now _there's_ a Black for you." The old woman chuckled darkly at the low, fierce answer from the little twelve year old Welsh, muggle born girl. "In essence yes that is absolutely correct. Our family has always been considered slightly eccentric ... " She ignored the amused sniggers of the pure bloods in the audience at this. " ... in that we have always carried another weapon in addition to our wands. We duel up close and personal and if magic isn't working for one reason or another then, as Cerys so delicately put it, then yes we do 'stab them in the balls'."

Cassie nudged the little black haired girl with her elbow and the two Welsh witches grinned at each other.

"Behind you there is a selection of hand to hand weapons for you to peruse and practice with. Cassandra and Nymphadora will be coming among you and helping out with the use of your chosen stabbing, slashing or thumping device."

Littering the large table that ran along the extended back wall of the cellar turned basement training room was an incredible variety of muggle melee weapons from simple knuckle dusters to giant war axes. All of them were old and all of them were dangerous. Cassie leaned against the wall and smirked at the looks of fascination that were evident on all of her Housemates' faces as they surveyed these martial monstrosities. She and Kreacher had spent some considerable time gathering them from the Black vaults and their selection had been done so as to cause maximum fear and wonder. They had judged it perfectly if the looks were anything to go by.

"Remember that these weapons need to be easily concealed so unless you have a really good grasp of shrinking charms or a bottomless bag handy then you'll need to pick something small enough to hide."

Boys, being boys and all, Draco, Vince and Greg went straight for the swords and axes while the girls chose their favourites from among the vast array of different knives, taking heed, not only of Walburga's warnings, but also their own smaller stature. Seeing her little monsters all armed to the teeth with kukris, tantos, daggers and stilettos set Cassie to huffing out her quiet laughter again as she imagined the face of the first boy to try and force his suit when they pulled one of those things on him.

Surprisingly both Hermione and Luna opted for longer weapons, a spear for the blonde and a cavalry sabre for the brunette, for no other reason than that they 'looked pretty' causing Cassie to smirk and Tonks to rage in frustration at them. The auror calmed down a bit when Hermione demonstrated her scary proficiency in casting shrinking and enlargement charms wandlessly. Luna and Draco were allowed to keep the long blades only if they leaned the charm with the same ability as the super talented and super intelligent, bushy haired witch. Vince and Greg knew their limitations as far as this type of magic was concerned and switched to a pair of smaller Scottish dirks before they embarrassed themselves.

For the next two hours or so the basement was full of squeaks, shouts and grunts as the Freaks attacked the training dummies with their new toys showing a lot in the way of enthusiasm and not much in the way of talent or expertise. Fleur stood off to one side watching as Tonks and Cassie moved around the room correcting stances and giving advice or instruction as necessary and near the end of the time everyone had at least managed to strike their targets to good effect once or twice. They may not be very good yet but they seemed to be having fun with the violence. She was just noticing how the portrait of Walburga Black nodded with pride at the effort that her family was putting into their lessons when she felt something odd come over her.

There was the familiar feeling of someone's gaze trained upon her, making her spine tingle and Fleurdamorte looked across the bodies in the training room to find Cassie and the bushy haired Granger girl standing closely together and staring at her. Not for the first time either. In fact wherever she went, either here or at Bones Manor, since Cassie's visit back to the Department of Mysteries the other day, there always seemed to be a pair of eyes on her. Suspicious little eyes. Watching her. Studying her. Waiting for her to slip up in some way. Which meant that they knew, or at least suspected, that there was something not quite right in the world of Fleur Delacour.

Well if they were going to be doing it anyway then she may as well give them something to watch and think about. She sorted through the various weapons on the long table before picking up and testing the blade of what appeared to be a very fine looking eighteenth century rapier. Fleur Delacour had taken fencing lessons from an early age and had been extremely talented at it so Fleurdamorte decided to access her knowledge of the muggle martial art to try and show off a bit in front of the Freaks. And possibly make them think twice if they were tempted to attack her at some point in the future.

She moved into the space in the centre of the training room, took up a classic starting position and began to cycle through the familiar forms in front of the widening eyes of the Freaks. En garde, advance, lunge, thrust, parry, attack au fer, touche. A light sheen of sweat began to coat her exposed arms as she went faster and faster through the routine movements. So involved in her practice was she that Fleur didn't notice the presence of another person in her immediate area until the blade of her rapier came to an abrupt stop as it struck the flat of Cassie's large dagger that suddenly appeared before her.

Looking into the cold, emerald green eyes of the 'girl-who-lived' Fleurdamorte stepped back in confusion and a little apprehension. She had seen this girl fight and there was no way that she wanted to take her on before she was a great deal stronger and preferably had an army to back her up. She suddenly felt very exposed here in the underground lair of the Psycho Freaks surrrounded by Cassie's family, friends and allies with only Tonks for support.

The black haired witch raised one of her perfectly sculpted eyebrows and cocked her head in silent question as the dagger in her hand morphed and lengthened into a slim, whippy, Chinese style sword. She tapped the newly elongated blade lightly against Fleur's rapier and tilted her head again.

"She's asking if you want to spar with her." A slightly nervous Tonks informed her.

"Oh." There was a small pause as the relieved Dark Lady finally smiled back at the Black heiress. "I would be honoured Mademoiselle."

Having only seen Cassie use massive weapons like the scythe and hammer before Fleurdamorte was expecting her to come at her with her customary wild power and was fairly confident that her poise and precision would at least allow her to hold her own against the younger witch. It was a surprise, therefore, when the girl exhibited a level of grace and skill with the lighter blade that had her totally outclassed and defending like mad. Merlin's balls was there nothing that this damned girl couldn't do? Fleur swore in frustration as the thin blade of her enemy slapped, flat side first, on the increasingly tender flesh of her bum yet again. She was beginning to wish that she had worn a lot thicker trousers than the light muggle jeans that Tonks had provided her with.

It was a painful lesson in humility for the veela as Cassie danced around her tip tapping the now profusely sweating blonde every now and then on the rump or shoulder before finally seeming to tire of the game and disarming Fleur with an delicately exquisite riposte. Her ignominious defeat appeared to be the signal for the end of today's training and as the younger witches and wizards trooped off up the stairs for some well deserved refreshment Fleur was buoyed by several comments of 'good show' and 'well done'. Even the now slightly distant Gabrielle praised her by saying that nobody had ever lasted that long against Cassie before and treating her to a brief hug of congratulation.

The adoring and adorable Dora Tonks was obviously full of pride and praise for her lovely veela girlfriend but Fleurdamorte was not nearly as impressed by what she saw only as her failure to win. Her performance was very sub-par and she would have to get busy on improving her strength and stamina in every field. Just in case.

If she couldn't get the 'girl-who-lived' on her side then she was going to need to do some serious recruiting and she had an idea of just where to start. With the one woman who was the finest natural duellist and dirty fighter that she had ever seen and possibly the only one who could match Cassandra Evans-Black in a stand up battle. The girl's own aunt. Bellatrix. Of course she would need to be removed from Azkaban and given a great deal of rehabilitation but these were details that could be worked out once Cassie and her army of misfit mischief makers were safely busy back at Hogwarts. At last she had a project that was worthy of her drive and intellect and Fleurdamorte was looking forward to it already.

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 **Your reviews are oh so** _ **precious**_ **to me but not necessary. I'm certainly not going to hold you guys to ransom over them.**

 **Good? Bad? Leave your thoughts although you can always PM me with ideas, suggestions, comments if you want. Dylan the Rabbit. xx**


	7. Chapter 7

**So I mention the name Bellatrix once and everybody sits up and takes notice. Now I know that she's a hugely popular character so to answer a few questions;**

 **1\. Yes she will be involved in quite a big way.**

 **2\. Yes it's going to be exciting and fun.**

 **3\. No I'm not telling you what I've got planned for her.**

 **I was inspired to do the quidditch scenes in this chapter by one of my all time favourite stories 'Uchiha of Ravenclaw' by Hebisama. I was honestly not very interested in the whole thing but they write it so brilliantly that I actually started to enjoy it and I thought I'd give it a go myself and you know what, it was actually rather fun. Don't worry though, Cassie still hates it.**

 **As always if you have ideas, suggestions or want to see something happen then put it in a review or give me a PM. As you have seen in Silent World I am more than happy to adapt it as we go if I find something that you've suggested helpful, useful or just plain amusing.**

 **I still don't own Harry Potter otherwise I'd be writing all day instead of working to pay the bills.**

 **Dylan the Rabbit. xx**

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 **Season of The Witch.**

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 **7\. Flying Without Wings.**

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Ginevra Black's fourteenth birthday was celebrated in grand style with the entire family and all of her Housemates turning up at Bones Manor to celebrate it. The birthday girl herself had only had one stipulation and that was 'no teachers' which Cassie and Susan who were the ones organising it were happy enough to comply with. The grounds of Bones Manor then were once more employed for a day long summer party although this time the guest list was more youthful than for the wedding that had taken place here a few weeks previously. Another difference from that occasion was the large golden hoops hovering above them and the line of brooms laid out on the grass.

Ginny's total love of flying in general and quidditch in particular had inspired the theme of the party and the activities had all been arranged to indulge the ginger haired Black sister's obsession with the sport. Anyone who had ever met her would have been more than aware of her favourite team so decking everything out in Hollyhead Harpies colours was no problem but with Susan still trying to hide her interest in quidditch they had draughted Greg in to help out with the details. The pride he had felt at being the one to escort the two witches to Diagon Alley in order to spend a quite obscene amount of gold on Ginny's main present, a Firebolt broom, and the other supplies that they needed was clear on his face. He had stood tall and felt absolutely on top of the world as he strode down the cobbled alley with a gorgeous young woman on each arm, just happy to be of any use whatsoever to his lovely new Housemates.

Once everything had been purchased and arrived at the Manor Cassie had gone over there the day before the party to do some setting up. She had taken Vince and Greg with her because, well, what was the point of having these great lumping lads around if you weren't going to use them for the heavy lifting. Frankly she and Susan could have done it it with magic in half the time, since Bones Manor was unplottable and they wouldn't be at any risk of getting in trouble, but she was going out ot her way to include the boys and make them feel useful and wanted. They needed to be integrated into the House and she wanted them to get used to being around a gaggle of exciteable teenaged girls, some of whom were in the habit of running around in their underwear, without fainting.

When the day of the party dawned Susan and the Black sisters flooed in along with Draco and the boys to have breakfast at Bones Manor and change ready to meet with the other guests. Since it was such a beautiful sunny day most of them were in shorts and tee shirts or little tops or in Cassie's case a _very_ skimpy black bikini and a short sarong to wrap around her if the breeze got up later. The reactions that her ensemble sparked ranged from shocked silence along with some slight drooling from the boys to small, excited yelps and growls from her betrothed who suddenly became decidedly handsy while giving her a thorough snogging. This display didn't really improve the raging hormone situation for the red faced young men who all moved their hands to cover their rather obvious ... _discomfort_.

Walking outside after the embarrassment of the male Freaks, which Ginny had laughingly declared to be her first birthday present, was finished none of them except those who had been involved in the set up were quite prepared for the sight that met their eyes. It was like someone had dropped the Mad Hatters tea party into the middle of a semi professional quidditch stadium. Everyone was very excited. Well with a couple of rather obvious, black and silver haired exceptions that is. Cassie and Fleur shared a look of exasperation before settling themselves in a couple of comfy looking loungers, happily sunbathing as the others ran yelling and screaming for the quidditch equipment.

While her bathing suit wasn't _quite_ as scandalously revealing as her companion's the platnium blonde, veela, Dark Lady had still gone rather risque with it and with her naturally enhanced good looks she was receiving just as much surrupticious attention from the young people as Cassie was. In fact since they complemented each other so well, the bright, sunny veela an the smoky, dark, tattooed witch next to her, that even the staunchly loyal Cedric Diggory had been noticed checking them out. Of course that had gotten him a slap from Katie but she had then ruined the effect slightly by also giving them a blushing once over. Their smiles were almost identical at the half joking argument that this caused between the mortified couple.

Being here like this was quite a big deal for Fleurdamorte as, to her mind, it meant that despite the Black heiress' obvious reservations she was slowly being accepted as 'one of the family'. An unidentifiable feeling crept over her making her feel all warm and tingly. At first she thought it was just the exceptionally warm weather but it wasn't. Her caged host cackled maniacally as she leaked her feelings of familial love into Fleurdamorte's consciousness. Forcing the sexual awakening of Feurdamorte had been amusing enough but giving her the capacity to feel love as well was really going to put the cat among the pigeons.

Ginny meanwhile was in heaven. From the second that she had laid eyes on the full sized quidditch pitch she had known that her present would be a broom but she had never dreamed that it would be a Firebolt. The finest, fastest broom ever made, used by National quidditch teams around the world and it was all hers. For possibly only the second time in her life Ginevra Black was speechless and more than a little bit weepy. The first time had been when Sirius had accepted her into the House of Black and adopted her six weeks or so ago and now it was happening all over again. She felt like such a soppy cow crying over a bloody broom.

Oh who was she kidding? This wasn't just a broom, it was a _Firebolt_.

After she had been shocked again by the appearance of Fred and George, the only Weasleys that she could actually stand to be around, Ginny's eyes finally sprang a proper leak as she cuddled her present. Many kisses and many thank-yous and some enthusiastic encouragement by her sisters and friends later the World's biggest Hollyhead Harpies fangirl had tentatively mounted her fantastic new broom and gently kicked off into the air. Oh my good goddess it was _amazing_. The way it responded to her slightest touch, changing direction the instant that she moved and the speed ... oh the speed. She was now flying high above the ground, some several hundred feet and something in her dare-devil flyers soul compelled her to point the nose straight downwards and put herself into a thrilling and dangerous vertical dive.

The feel of her facial muscles distorting as the wind rushed past her was fantastic and the danger of her supersonic plummet was only matched by the insanity of how late she left it before pulling off her perfect Wronski Feint. That. Was. Sooo. Cool. Gaining height once more she at last spotted the young woman who had caused such a monumental shift in her life and her fortunes lying there, all sexy like, and Ginny banked steeply and slowed as she reached her oldest sister.

"Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod. I can't believe you got me a Firebolt I love you so much!"

The green eyes widened as Ginny leapt off of her still moving new broom and on top of her sister to squeeze her tightly before repeating the action on an equally startled Fleur. The ginger, who seemed oblivious to the fact that her clothes were now covered in Cassie's rather expensive and laboriously applied SPF 30 sun cream, then jumped back on her clearly appreciated birthday present and roared off again with a 'Woo Hoo'. The two girls on their sun loungers shared a shrug, an eye roll and a knowing smirk before each of them reached down to the side for their respective lotions watching as more brooms began to take to the air and the flyers started throwing around a quaffle between them.

Hermione was standing off to one side of all the excitement, peering over the top of her sunglasses at the bikini clad Black heiress and enjoying the view very much indeed. Just because she was in a committed relationship with her former crush's sister didn't mean that she couldn't have the occasional sneaky peek at the insanely beautiful, firm, toned young woman. Especially when she was 'wearing' such a ridiculously skimpy bathing suit that barely covered anything. Yum yum. Dragging her eyes away from Cassie's tits and up to her face Hermione was horrified to see those emerald eyes looking straight into hers and the ruby lips that were twisted in an amused smile as she remembered what the raven haired lovely had been researching for the past week.

The mind arts, as in occlumency and _leglimancy_. Oh my God she was _such_ a stupid lesbian. To try and mask her embarrassment at being caught having decidedly less than pure thoughts about her oldest friend Hermione 'Gryfindored up' and attempted to change the subject.

"Are you not going to go flying with the girls then?" She knew full well that Cassie wasn't but it was a good way to distract her from her previous perversions.

 **Not fucking likely.**

"Come on Cass just give it a try."

 **I've tried it. I was shit.**

"I remember." Hermione smiled at the memory. "I don't know who was worse you or me."

"It was you Hermione."

There was no mistaking that seemingly polite but always insincere, aristocratic drawl. The bushy haired girl scowled at Draco's amused insertion into the conversation. She decided to go on the offensive.

"Weren't you too busy stealing Longbottom's remembrall and trying to get him killed to be paying any attention to us."

The two of them set to good natured bickering with a will. One of the most surprising developments of the last couple of weeks was the odd friendship that had sprung up between Draco, the haughty pureblood princeling, and Hermione, the muggle born brightest witch of her age. Once they had broken their four year habit of trying to bully and belittle each other the two found that they shared a wickedly sarcastic sense of humour and their interractions became much more of an amusing game of wits. Apparently Draco had some and nobody was more shocked than him to discover it.

Another discovery that he had made was that he enjoyed studying and that he was actually rather good at it. Not as good as Hermione obviously but not far off it. The budding friendship was finally sealed when she walked in on him tutoring her sex obsessed Irish girlfriend in Ancient Runes and being successful at keeping her attention on the subject. Something that Hermione herself had all but given up on. From then on it was almost impossible to find one without the other. They worked on homework together, engaged in wide ranging and occasionally pretty heated debates on everything and anything, assisted the less mentally gifted Freaks with their own work and pounded each other at wizard's chess. It was both startling and scary. Even more so when Draco's mother would join in. Cassie tried not to give her away as the perfectly attired older blonde woman stealthily crept up behind the engrossed teens before laying a hand on both shoulders eliciting a pair of small girly screams.

"Are you two at it again?" Narcissa sighed resignedly. "What is it this time?"

"Flying."

Cassie watched the unlikely trio wandering off towards the stack of very few remaining as yet unused brooms still arguing with an almost manic intensity and smiled broadly.

Amelia wearily pulled up a nearby lawn chair, sat down with a sigh next to her, reached over and patted her hand.

"I know you hate it love but look at how much fun they're having."

She couldn't deny that. The teens had now been joined by Sirius, Remus and Andromeda and since they now had enough willing participants an intense pick up game of quidditch had started. The yells and shouts of the players, the solid thwacks of the beaters bats as Vince and Greg engaged in a fight for dominance with the Weasley twins and screaming girls flying everywhere in and between. They did truly look as if they were having fun. Not _her_ kind of fun admittedly but then where was she going to find a dragon to fight on this short notice. Or even a troll.

The grinning face of her sister flashed before her eyes and she was whipped by the long ginger hair as Ginny whizzed by inches from her head laughing like a maniac, cradling a large red ball and being chased by three smaller witches. Juliet, Cerys and 'Tilde were laying flat along their brooms to rinse every last ounce of speed from them as they careered, grinning determinedly, after the birthday girl intent on relieving her of her prize.

 **I fucking hate quidditch.**

There was no venom in her statement and Amelia knew it. She knew it from the way that she was smiling as she tracked the whooping, giggling shapes of her family and friends across the cloudless sky. She was rather enjoying the view herself until it was obscured by a mass of curly, bushy brunette hair that bobbed into view and she goggled in total shock as the face beneath hair was brought into the light of day by the gentle breeze. Hermione Granger, the worlds worst flyer, was astride a Comet Three Sixty broom and so out of control that she was only just managing to keep the thing airborne while sitting still. She had a very determined look though as, taking her life in her hands she held out her hand towards Cassie with a slightly grim smile on her face.

"Come on let's do it together, you and me, like old times."

Cassie was gob-smacked. Also a little impressed at the sheer bloody mindedness of the girl. Shaking her head to indicate just how insane she thought this was she reached out and grabbed the hand of her first ever friend who pulled her awkwardly up behind her and they were off. Sort of. The broom wobbled alarmingly as the two witches voted least likely to even own a broom let alone fly it, skimmed across the lawn at barely crawling speed before a burst of misplaced confidence had them rising and accelerating into the air. Yeah this was _so_ not going to end well for them. Still at least nobody apart from Amelia and maybe Fleur was watching them.

After a few minutes of lazy, inexperienced and wobbly circling Cassie was feeling a bit less scared and was actually starting to enjoy their impromptu trip. This feeling was not going to last for long, however. It was the sudden quiet that alerted Cassie to the fact that she and Hermione were no longer alone and unobserved and she gripped tightly to the other witch praying that she was wrong about was coming. Unfortunately she wasn't. Twenty feet from the safety of the ground and suddenly they were surrounded by a multitude of grinning faces.

Her dad, sisters, friends, cousins, they had all stopped their game to come and poke fun at and annoy the two witches who didn't like heights very much and positively hated flying. And probably to see their screams of horror as they fell off which they inevitably would since their broom control was practically non existent. Even Luna was there and in more control than them. Admittedly she was hanging upside down from her broom and smiling languidly like a mentally disturbed sloth but she was still in control. Well as in control as Luna ever got anyway. It was in fact this sight that startled Hermione into losing her tenuous grip on their flying machine which shot from underneath them at her heavy handed attemps to recover her seat and plunged the two of them towards the ground.

Of all the people that could have done it, it was Fleurdamorte that managed to avoid laughing too hard at them and cast the cushioning charm under them preventing any serious injury to Cassie and Hermione. The hidden Dark Lady could not say that she had intended to do so. One second she was watching the girls fall and the next her wand was in her hand and the spell was thrown as if on a protective instinct. She didn't like the thought of herself possessing on of those. They were awfully inconvenient. Now, however, she was looking at the two of them laying on their backs giggling and feeling glad that she had done it. Curiouser and curiouser. What the hell was going on with her lately?

Cassie decided that she should have known something like this would happen the instant that flying was suggested as a theme for Ginny's party. She couldn't believe that the Freaks were actually going to be participating in this ridiculous bloody ... well ... freakshow when they got back to Hogwarts. She fucking _hated_ quidditch. Her Housemates, however, appeared to absolutely love it and she simply couldn't bring herself to deny them the opportunity to play this year. Or anything else that they desired for that matter. Staring up at the sky from her position flat out on her back on the grass she let out a frustrated huff which prompted a snort and a giggle from the bushy haired girl lying next to her. She couldn't help the grin that formed and within seconds the two of them were holding hands and laughing up a storm. Susan Bones landed quietly a few feet away and watched them in silence. She was going to have to think up a proper way to say thank-you to Hermione for getting her girlfriend more involved in today's activities.

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Molly Weasley not in a good mood.

Dumbledore looked on as the tubby ginger housewife threw things around her kitchen with impressive force while she alternated between bemoaning the loss of her 'precious daughter' and railing against the 'evil' Blacks.

The thing that had sparked all of this ranting and raving was the copy of the Daily Prophet that had hit her kitchen table that morning. The article that had been reproduced in newspapers all across Europe and the Americas was front page news and was accompanied by what was essentially a family portrait of what was becoming once more one of the most powerful Houses in Wizarding Britain. At the centre of the picture was the figure of Cassandra Evans-Black in all of her leather clad glory seated in a throne, surrounded by her sisters, parents, aunts and cousins and giving the camera that small, enigmatic smile of hers. She looked like what she was. The boss. The wild, dangerous and charismatic leader of a dark and ancient wizarding clan that could trace it's lineage all the way back to before the time of Merlin.

The inside pages were no better. It gave the only in depth interview availlable with the participants in the horrifying events at Delacour Villa earlier in the Summer and made for grim reading for anyone who thought to challenge the Blacks either politically or in any other sphere. The multitude of pictures of the brave and beautiful trio of witches would be enlarged and hung on the walls of many bedrooms as their occupants dreamed of rescuing the veela princess or being rescued by either the young auror or the smoking hot Black Witch.

Not that Molly would be doing that.

She truly believed that Sirius had betrayed the light by blood adopting the 'girl-who-lived', taking her away from the headmaster's control and allowing her to be influenced by the darkness that had pervaded the House of Black for centuries. And then, not content with just corrupting the already fairly corrupted Cassandra, he had gone and done the unforgiveable by taking her only daughter away from her. The fact that Ginny looked so happy with her new family and her new situation just made matters worse and had left her apoplectic with rage and led to her destroying her kitchen

Dumbledore meanwhile was rather amused by it all.

He felt that the articles in the Prophet actually helped his cause by painting the dratted Evans brat as the kind of witch who let her emotions and her temper rule her actions. The fact that she could kill sixteen decent (to his mind anyway) pure blood wizards without hesitation for an offence that was committed on foreign soil would, he was sure, be remembered by the public when she went fully 'dark'. Nobody cared what went on in a benighted country like France and he was certain that with this act of wanton murder his recruitment drive for the new Order of the Phoenix would be boosted when he revealed their purpose for forming.

And he needed to do some recruiting too since a great many of the old order were either dead or in the Black Witch's camp. James and the Prewetts were dead, Sirius and Remus always were and always would be flakes, Amelia and Andromeda, although light-ish in their outlook had been on the outskirts of his order and Narcissa had been literally sleeping with the enemy. Having been caught out getting a bit too happy with the memory charms Minerva was gone too but it was Severus Snape's betrayal that really hurt.

Severus had made a useful spy but he sensed that with his avuncular connection to the 'girl-who-refused-to-die' and her assorted freaks that that time was past now. Sentiment. It had always been the potions master's biggest flaw. It had made him a tepid and mediocre Death Eater, easily swayed by empty promises but a reasonably effective double agent and rather valuable. Perhaps it was time to reveal his part in the deaths of her parents to Evans to see if he could cause a rift between the two and possibly get him back on board. If not that then she might just end up losing her temper and killing him, giving her the much deserved villain status and proving his point about her.

In fact that would probably be his preferred outcome. Albus started to think about and make plans for how he could engineer such a confrontation to be as public as possible. Many of his supporters were not overly keen on Severus but there was no way that they would stand for a public execution of one of their own by a proven murderess and manipulator like Evans,'girl-who-lived' or not. The Chief Warlock smiled his patented twinkly eyed 'favourite grandad' smile giving the Weasleys a sense of calm serenity while he did an internal happy dance at how useful their anger and outrage was going to be when hostilities with the Black Witch began.

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The basement shimmered and her wand shuddered as the dark skinned witch pushed her magic through the focus to force the floor and surrounding walls down by fifteen feet. This done she extended the stone steps down to meet the new lower level before creating a floor/ceiling and divided the now cavernous space into two separate floors. Next she threw some pebbles onto the upper level and transfigured them into walls to break the space up into rooms, one hallway/reception room, two dorm rooms and a large bathroom. Excellent. The whole job had taken under an hour. McGonagall could have certainly done it faster but she had wanted to do this job herself. They were her students after all and it was her task to do.

Aurora Sinistra stepped back, folded her arms and viewed her handiwork with pride and satisfaction. For the first time since becoming the faculty Head of Psycho Freak House last September she had finally managed to make a major structural transfiguration work and permanently stick on her own. Her reasons for all this work was twofold. Firstly was that she had recieved a message from Miss Evans-Black informing her of three young men who had been invited to join the House over the Summer and secondly was that she suspected the sorting hat may well find some more freaks in the new intake next week. Especially since young Cassie had become so incrediby popular with the younger generation of witches since her displays of power and compassion in last year's Tri-Wizard Tournament and beyond. Aurora could see many girls wanting to join the House of their role model and herione and possibly a few boys too.

The expected influx of first year witches into the House had also prompted her to add a storey above ground so that she could split the upper and lower years up and give them a floor each only some of which was for the comfort of the girls. A larger part of this decision was her desire to keep the disturbing influence of one Miss Luna Lovegood as far away as possible from innocent and impressionable young minds. Normally she could rely on Cassie for this kind of thing but she did seem to have a very sizeable blind spot when it came to her lunatic, blonde friend. Of course she didn't really know what kind of strange and broken individuals the new arrivals would have to be for the sorting hat to let them in in the first place so she might be worrying over nothing. If so then at least they wouldn't have to fight over the bathroom.

Making two entirely new floors of the Psycho Freak tower was quite a bit of effort since there was already a perfectly useable cellar but she could just imagine Cassandra giving her one those hard stares of hers if she messed with the girls basement training room. Although very sweet most of the time the Black heiress could be unbelievably intimidating and creepy when you crossed her and given her rather short, rather violent temper it was probably best to just not risk it. Even if she was giving the girl and her newly betrothed lover a very special present which would be revealed when they got back here.

Aurora had decided to get some brownie points in the bank at the start of term and had made Cassie and Susan their very own private suite at the top of the tower in what was the old roof space. Although it was a lot less work than putting a whole new floor in she still had to make the stairs and divide up the area into bed, sitting and bathroom. She was hoping that the girls would at least appreciate the sentiment behind her actions even if they weren't exactly blown away by the lack of effort involved.

The tired Astonomy professor decided to have a little bit of a sit down and a restorative cup of tea in the Freaks' common room and killed two birds with one stone by asking the same elf that brought her drink if she could arrange furnishing the new dormitories although not the attic suite as Aurora wanted to take care of that personally. Perhaps a trip to the room of lost items was in order to search for some unusually weird items with which she could make it a properly strange room for the Freak in chief and her red headed betrothed. While she was planning her raid on the come and go room Severus Snape who had been passing the tower and seen the lights on had decided to drop in and see how her renovations had progressed.

"You'd better not have messed around with the Potions lab."

"Hello Severus." She smiled at the grumpy sounding professor, knowing his act all too well by now. "And no, your precious Potions area is all safe and sound."

He grunted and moved around the Tower's main common room muttering to himself as he checked that there was nothing missing or out of place in the potioneer's study and preparation area that he had painstakingly set up at the beginning of term for the last two years. Making a note that he should add a few first year Potions texts to the library and adding it to the list of the ingredients and reagents that needed to be topped off Snape turned back to his colleague.

"So who are your prefects going to be Aurora?"

"Prefects, why would I have prefects?"

"You now have fifth year students of both sexes, yes?"

"Well yes."

"Then you need to appoint prefects. One male, one female."

It was at this point that Aurora realised that she was the faculty Head of an actual, proper Hogwarts House and that her responsibilites would only increase as it grew in size. She didn't exactly have a problem with this apart from the fact that she didn't actually know what these responsibilities were. Luckily there was someone who _did_ know that was sat right here in front of her and seemingly with nothing else to do this evening. Summoning a second cup for her guest Aurora Sinistra poured him some tea and began to put her considerable charms to work extracting the necessary information from him. There was a lot of it and it turned into a very long night.

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Relaxing in 'her' sun lounger on the lawn at Bones Manor Cassie was reading her book about Soul Magic and pretending that she couldn't see the training match that was being played out in front of her. Her bushy haired companion nodded at her and made a face at the other girls who seemed torn between checking out Cass in her bikini and watching the training. Hermione chuckled to herself when her girlfriend told her that she couldn't talk as she did the exact same thing. The studious young woman had sufficient self knowledge to accept this as a distinct possibility and had been hanging out with the Blacks for long enough that laughing at herself had become a fairly regular occurrence.

As it happened Cassie was actually entirely uninterested in the ridiculous broom sport and was actually engrossed in her very helpful and interesting book that was giving her all sorts of insights into Cerys and Gabbys veela bond. The only useful thing about the game that she could see was the armour that was thick enough to provide good protection while being flexible enough to allow a full range of movement. Of course she wouldn't have used it for bloody pointless, shitty quidditch, no she'd have used it for making sure that her family stayed safe and uninjured in a fight.

Above them the newly formed Psycho Freak quidditch team definitely were interested in the sporting uses of the armour as they were with every other aspect of, what they and many others considered to be, the most fun game ever. Their starting line-up held the most rabid of these fans.

At beater were Vincent Crabbe and Greg Goyle, solid and experienced players with a great rapport and understanding between them and a shared love of hitting stuff. Protecting the goal, Draco Black who was a good, quick flyer, had an excellnt tactical grasp of the game and a very safe pair of hands. High above the pitch in the role of seeker was the slim, small statured Ginny Black, the only choice with her lightning fast Firebolt broom and dare-devil spirit.

The surprise came with the chasers.

Mathilde Black and Juliette Jones were fast, agile and ferociously tenacious in their pursuit of the quaffle and they had impressed everyone with their bravery, tactics and their talent. The lead chaser was most impressed of all by the slight second years. A lead chaser who added some much needed muscle to the line-up. A lead chaser by the name of Susan Bones.

Much to the horror of her betrothed the red headed Bones heiress had proved to be, not only fully conversant with all of the intricacies of the stupidly dangerous sport, but also extremely good at playing it. There were many joking references to how one of the most famous lesbians in wizarding Britain toady had such good 'ball handling' skills but it was banter born out of respect rather than derision. Cassie's future fiancee really was very good indeed.

Supplementing this quality line-up were the two reserves. Charli was a decent utility player who could slot in pretty much anywhere necessary and Cerys, the little muggle born Welsh girl had turned out to be an absolute quidditch prodigy. The only thing that stopped her being their most valuable player and kept her out of the starting team was that she was much more careful about her personal safety than the others. Like a great many magicals who had not been raised in the wizarding world Cerys was still a bit sceptical that the injuries that she would very likely receive in this violent 'game' could be healed quickly and painlessly. It made her cautious. Too cautious to be a really great quidditch player, she was, however, a great asset as a reserve.

Luna, Gabby and Hermione stayed out of harm's way and joined the totally unmoved Cassie in what was laughingly referred to by the team as the 'cheerleading section'.

In their first of their daily scheduled practices it had become very clear who the team captain was going to be. The drive and determination of one girl who had decided that if they were going to be playing quidditch at Hogwarts this year then they were damned well going to be competitive was instantly recogniseable and utterly unquenchable. There was no other choice. It _had_ to be Ginevra Black. She was a tartar to rival even the feared Grandma Walburga when it came to her team's fitness, preparation and performance but the others accepted it without question simply because she made them better.

Ginny was a true believer and her belief transferred to her team.

This was the last day of freedom in the final week of their Summer break which had seemed to just fly past at record speed and Ginevra Black was determined to make the most of it, doing what she loved more than anything else in the whole world. Except maybe for making out with Luna that is. Tonight was the Psycho Freaks last night with the Black adults and the semi formal dinner that they had planned was sure to be a riot but for now it was all about the flying.

She streaked through the sky in a ginger and black flash in another of one her break-neck dives, dodging as bludgers and dirty playing chasers tried to knock her off of her course to intercept the elusive golden snitch. The team roared in appreciation as their magnificent captain swept the little winged ball into her glove once more before peeling off into a fast victory barrel roll which earned her a small Mexican wave from the watching witches on the ground. Well, nearly all the witches on the ground.

Cassie looked up from her book and blinked owlishly wondering what all the noise was about. Realising that it was just more stupid quidditch stuff she rolled her eyes, huffed dramatically and recommenced her reading as she was just getting into a really good bit about something called a horcrux. As the others were pulled onto brooms and taken up into the air for some patented Ginny relaxation techniques of 'doubles' quaffle catch she looked up into the soft brown eyes of her red headed lover who was hovering in front of her with an expectant expression on her pretty face. She sighed heavily and slid up behind Suzie (under protest) resigned to the fact that her book was going to have to wait until she was on the Express tomorrow.

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 **Your reviews are oh so** _ **precious**_ **to me but not necessary. I'm certainly not going to hold you guys to ransom over them.**

 **Good? Bad? Leave your thoughts although you can always PM me with ideas, suggestions, comments if you want. Dylan the Rabbit. xx**


	8. Chapter 8

**Finally we've reached the end of the Summer break and this chapter the girls are going back to Hogwarts. To Dumbledork and the Umbitch and all the chaos that might bring.**

 **A quick thank-you to Kelsi106 whose very fun Morgana Potter fic solved a bit of a stumbling block for me on this chapter.**

 **As always if you have ideas, suggestions or want to see something happen then put it in a review or give me a PM. As you have seen in Silent World I am more than happy to adapt it as we go if I find something that you've suggested helpful, useful or just plain amusing.**

 **I still don't own Harry Potter otherwise I'd be writing all day instead of working to pay the bills.**

 **Dylan the Rabbit. xx**

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 **Season of The Witch.**

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 **8\. Popularity.**

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It seemed like the whole of Wizarding Britain was waiting at Platform Nine and Three Quarters, staring at the floo station and anticipating the arrival of the Black Witch and her increasingly large, powerful and eccentric family. Many people who had no business here today had come along with hours to spare simply to see the beautiful, infamous and scandalous Cassandra Evans-Black and to be able to say to their friends and relations that they had done so.

And finally here they came. The younger members of the House of Black and their associated allies had flooed directly from Twelve Grimmuald Place where they had spent the previous night together with their families. Their goodbyes had already been said but the adults had still insisted on following them through to make a show of support and give protection to their children. Not that any of them needed much in the way of protection after their Summer training sessions with 'Grandma Walburga'. Well not from physical or magical attacks anyway, a Platform full of excited fangirls, however, was an entirely different matter.

All of those who had managed to persuade or cajole their parents or older siblings into letting them come here today to see the famous 'Black Witch' were in a frenzy of anticipation. Just catching a glimpse of their surprising heroine and role model boarding the Hogwarts Express would be enough for some although most hoped for something a bit more exciting. The squeals and screams from hundreds of bouncing little witches, all dressed in red cloaks and waving toy scythes, that greeted the appearance of Cassandra Evans-Black was ear splitting in both it's shrillness and it's volume in the large, enclosed space. She blinked at the unexpected sight and would have stepped back if Charli and Susan hadn't grabbed an arm each and kept her moving forwards.

"Awww look at all the little Cassie's, they're so cute."

The feared and loved 'Black Witch' dug her heels in and tried desperately to stop the girls dragging her forward, unfortunately since they were both significantly taller than her they simply picked her up and carried her onto the Platform and in front of her adoring fans.

"Oh no, no, no. This is your fault that they're all here for you so you're going to have deal with them little Miss popular."

Susan and Charli dumped her on top of a stray trunk so that she could be seen and then whipped the crowd up into even more of a frenzy by throwing up their hands and doing a little 'Tada' gesture from each side of her. The hoard of red caped girls howled their pleasure as their herione un-froze enough to give them a shy smile and a little wave and they displayed their home made scythes and Welsh flags proudly. It was incredibly overwhelming and actually a bit scary for the girl who had no clue whatsoever that she was this popular.

It was a bit lucky that the Blacks had arrived a full hour early today as Cassie sat on her borrowed trunk and patiently signed every poster, magazine and notebook that was proffered by her wide eyed and shaking admirers. Her sisters were astonished that she allowed them to shake her hand or kiss her knuckles and a few bold souls even asked to kiss her on the cheek and once again it was allowed with a smile that seemed to melt the hearts of everyone watching. Well almost everyone.

Dotted around the outskirts of the massive crowd were various small groups of mainly older students, some in green, some in red, who glared at her with suspicion and hatred. Their narrowed and somewhat envious eyes followed the progress of the deceptively sweet looking fifteen year old witch and her fellow Freaks as they made their slow but steady way to the scarlet train. As they disappeared into the last carriage after giving and receiving hugs from their kith and kin the crowds of onlookers started to disperse and the platform regained a modicum of normality.

The two newly appointed Psycho Freak prefects made their way up to the front of the train. Professor Sinistra had made a surprising visit to Twelve Grimmuald Place three days previously to personally hand the Psycho Freaks their school letters and give out shiny silver badges with the PF emblem of the basilisk entwined around a scythe to her selected prefects. She had sat them down as a House and explained her reasoning for why she had chosen who she had before taking them all to Diagon Alley for their school supplies and treating them to ice cream at Fortescue's.

Dazed was a bit of an understatement for how Susan Bones and Draco Black felt. Since their respective entries into the House of the Freaks they had both honestly thought that the much desired and often dreamed about position of prefect was now permanently out of their reach. Athough Draco's wish for the position had all been tied up with his father's expectations of him as the heir to the great name of Malfoy, which was obviously no longer an issue, he still had his own reasons for wanting it. Chief among these was his wish to make his mother proud of him, something that the blonde boy absolutely lived to achieve. Susan on the other hand wanted the role for nothing more or less than to help her younger Housemates. She had been one of the founding forces of Psycho Freak House and considered every one of them to be her family, to be cherished, nurtured and protected. It was a close run thing but in the end it was this fiercely protective attitude, more than anything, that had swung the professor Susan's way rather than to her other favoured option of Hermione Granger. She certainly wasn't going to have chosen the mistress of chaos Cassie or her sexually deviant Irish sister for as much as she loved and respected them she didn't really consider that either of them was very ... _reliable_.

So here it was, Draco's first big test of the year and they weren't even at school yet. Uncle Severus, as his god-father, had already warned him who the Slytherin prefects were so he was fully prepared when he stepped into the front carriage and locked eyes with the sneering Theodore Nott. He knew that the Notts were hardcore Death Eaters and that his being so quick to fold himself into the House of Black and under the wing of the girl who had killed his father would be seen as the ultimate betrayal by the dark family. His sense of anger and dis-belief when he learned of Draco's defection to the Freak House and his status as prefect was clear on the boy's face no matter how much he tried to hide it beneath the Slytherin mask. He would definitely be a problem.

The female Slytherin prefect wasn't much better mind you, Pansy Parkinson had been chasing his family for a betrothal contract for her 'Drakey Poo' since the moment she could talk and she was still giving him the cow eyes even now that he was officially a Black. Although it had amused him to learn that her father had contacted Uncle Sirius over the possibility of a marriage between Pansy and Cassie. He was just imagining her reaction to that and sniggering to himself, which attracted the attention of Susan which in turn encouraged her to join in the laughter upon his explanation, when the Head Boy and Girl entered and caught them. Not that they were likely to be chastised even then given the reputation of Draco's cousin and Susan's betrothed. In fact most of the other prefects, in a display of practical neutrality, simply left them alone, moving slightly away from the idiot Nott who seemed to have rather too much to say and a bit of a death wish.

Having sat through an hour long meeting that contained nothing much of any value or interest to them the two Freaks headed back to the carriage that the Blacks had appropriated for their trip in order to rest up before they had to patrol. As they walked in they caught Cassie and Hermione casting wandess magic to summon more cushions and rugs in an attempt to make their already expanded compartment even more comfortable.

"You do know that we're supposed to report you for doing magic outside of class."

 **Isn't there something I can do to change your mind Miss Prefect?**

"Hmmm. Well we may be able to work out some kind of ... _payment plan_ ... for your habitual rule breaking, yes."

Susan's voice had gone rather husky by this point as her girlfriend draped herself over her, nuzzling into her neck and began to tease her earlobe with that wicked little forked tongue of hers. This prompted much laughter from the Freaks and led to a well supported assertion by Ginny that Prefect Bones was 'so easy'.

"I am _not_ easy ... mmmph." The black haired girl had switched from teasing with her tongue to wrapping her legs around Susan and frenching her very thoroughly with it. "Okay. Maybe I'm a bit easy."

With her demonstration of how to deal with detention happy prefects completed Cassie threw herself onto the cushioned seat and held out her arms for her betrothed to come and lay down with her. Once her snuggly red headed lover was safely tucked in her embrace she gazed around at the much expanded group of her friends and family and thought that this Summer had gone rather splendidly. Cassie had wanted to protect her friends and grow her House and that's precisely what she had done, hopefully a few more should be joining them after the sorting ceremony tonight and it would grow even more. She smiled warmly at her happy, chattering collection of freaks and geeks.

They were quite an eclectic mix of skin tones and hair colours now from Draco's silver blonde through reds and brunettes to the elder Black sisters' inky darkness. As for the younger girls, 'Tilde, Cerys and Juliette all seemed to have gone for the full House of Black colour scheme with their newly raven locks and bright red lipstick contrasting nicely with Gabby's fair, golden looks. Cassie had a sudden urge to dress them all up as a trio of Wednesday Addamses, stripey stockings, pigtails and all. Maybe at Halloween. She was pretty sure that the two muggle raised girls would be more than happy to do it and between them could talk the much more stayed 'Tilde into playing along. Perhaps they should throw a Halloween fancy dress party in the tower with a few specially selected, invited guests for the single members. She'd have to point Hermione's organisational brilliance at it, assuming that she could persuade the bushy haired mistress of studying to actually have some fun during their OWL year.

She shouldn't have too much difficuty since between their communal study habits and their practical training with grandma Walburga even the slightly dull witted Vince and Greg should be able to breeze their exams this year.

Hywel, Cerys' raven watched interestedly with his deep black eyes from his place on the luggage rack as his pet humans read, laughed and played in the magically enlarged carriage. He had enjoyed his time with this strange, amusing and surprisingly affectionate group of young people. It was mainly surprising because he wasn't exactly the best tempered raven in the aviary, given to loudly squawking out his annoyance and pecking anyone who got near when he was in one of his moods. Which was often. Even so the little girl who would become his Mistress had ignored all of the cute, fluffy and furry creatures and the preening owls, walked straight up to him and given the tiniest of smiles. Something passed between them that day and he hadn't left her side since.

Once Hywel and Cerys had decided that they were going to be together from now on he had met her insane family who, it seemed, now considered him to be family too and spent every possible moment trying to subvert his grumpy demeanor by stroking, petting and kissing him. It would have been incredibly insulting had he not seen the scary older girl's python receiving the exact same treatment from them. He had quickly decided that he would follow the snake's excellent example and find one of them who was nervous and/or afraid of him and pick on them mercilessly in order to make himself feel better. And there was his target. The blonde boy with the long, slicked back hair which he swooped down to land in, tangling his talons in the fine, fair locks.

"Gaargh! Cerys why does your pet bird always have to use me as a bloody perch?"

"Because he _lurves_ you Drakey Poo."

"He really does seem to have quite the obsession with you doesn't he."

Draco huffed at the laughter of his Housemates which only encouraged them further and sat down carefully, anxious to avoid pissing off the scary, black raven on his head and causing even more humiliation. Cerys winked at her familiar as she seated herself next to him and reached for his travelling wizards chess set. She was certain that with the distraction of Hywel's disturbing presence she could actualy beat him at the stupid game for once.

Many miles later the bright red engine of the Hogwarts express rolled into Hogsmeade Station and pulled up to an eventual stop with a screeching of metal and a great cloud of steam signalling to the Freaks that playtime was over and it was time to disembark. Cassie shepherded her sisters and Housemates out on to the platform and then she and the lovely Hermione returned their compartment to it's original size and state before joining them and forming up at the head of her House. Again she had the sense that something had definitely changed since last year. There was no longer a mad rush of students desperately trying to avoid them, indeed some of them were actually hanging back to watch as the Psycho Freaks gathered for the last part of their trip to the school.

Many pairs of wide, eleven year old eyes watched from their vantage point clustered around the half giant professor as the black robed House strode past on their way to the carriages. A few of the closest Psycho Freaks threw out winks, smiles and waves, causing excited fluttering from the new intake of cute ickle firsties. Hagrid gave them a bright grin and waved back at them before turning to his young charges and hustling them down the slipway to the waiting boats and the excitement of their first watery ride to Hogwarts castle. Cassie watched them go and felt a twinge of envy remembering her own wonder at the sight then turned and led her House up to the waiting carriages thinking that at least she would get to say hello to her old friends who pulled the ornate conveyances for the older students. Having spent a great many detentions in the stables she had a very special relationship with the threstrals and they startled many of their passengers by whinnying at her approach and waiting to receive her warm and affectionate greetings.

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The table in the middle of the hall sat empty under the black banner of the basilisk and the scythe awaiting the entry of the Freaks as did everyone else in Hogwarts great hall. As had become their tradition over the last few years the House of the outcasts came in last and just ever so slightly late. Cassie did love to make an entrance and with her twelve black robed Housemates filing in behind she used her air elemental magic to float herself along the table to the end where she landed and courtesied in one smooth single motion while tipping the staff a cheeky wink.

There were more than a few snorts and giggles from around the hall and even a couple of the teachers had been forced to cover their mouths to hide their smiles, including the pink cardiganed new Defence professor. The fact that Umbridge had smiled at her theatrics gave Cassie at least some hope that she might come through the school year without killing her but she certainly wouldn't be holding her breath. Of course the headmaster wasn't smiling. The beardy old git had such a sour expression on that she had to try very hard indeed not to laugh in his stupid face and simply contented herself with a nasty little smirk instead.

Having successfully completed her mission to wind Dumbledore up Cassie trotted back down the table and transfigured her seat into a velvet padded throne that she made sure was slightly larger and more impressive than the one that the old man habitually used. She arranged herself comfortably with a faux interested expression on her face and gestured that she was ready for him to continue which prompted even more giggles from the hall and a huge eye twitch from the increasingly red faced headmaster.

Albus Dumbledore took a few deep breaths and managed to calm himself down enough to start the beginning of term routines, gaining more and more control over his anger as he went on. He had a brief reversal when he noticed that the Evans brat was paying little to no attention to him, preferring to chatter to her scaly pet instead, but kept it together in order to introduce the new first years and prod the sorting hat into singing this year's song. Both he and most of the Psycho Freaks gave a bit of a double take as the ancient headgear added in a new verse to his old rhyme.

 _'Or perhaps you are the small, the outcast, the disregarded, the under-estimated, all those who are different are welcomed into the House of the Scythe and Basilisk where you may be pushed from both without and within to be the best that you can be. A family that can exceed or even replace that of your birth, the cost of joining is great yet the rewards may be greater.'_

Well what do you know. The raggedy old hat had finally said something interesting.

From the fifty eleven year olds that had accepted the invitation to take up a place at Hogwarts this year five were selected by the sorting hat for Cassie's House. Alex Broughton, Felicity McGonagall, Megan Powell, Philip Trainor and Jonathon Travis. Each and every one of them had their own demons and issues with which they struggled and none were particularly surprised that they had ended up in the 'House of the outcasts'. Some of them had even hoped for it, although others either didn't know or didn't realise just what it meant to be a Psycho Freak. For those not in the know it didn't sound exactly encouraging.

They were all certainly grateful that the incredibly pretty girl who quite clearly 'ruled' their new House had come and collected them from the stage, taking them by the hand one by one and guiding them to their table. While not all of them knew precisely who she was they all appreciated her gesture of kindness and knew instinctively that she was offering to love and protect them through this frightening change of environment. The new intake of Freaks sat in wide eyed silence amongst their older Housemates and listened as the headmaster once gain rose to continue his speech.

"For the second year running we have a transfer student to sort, although I think everyone is aware of where she will probably end up." He paused before signalling for the lovely and demure French girl to approach. "Gabrielle Delacour."

As the hat descended for the final time that year Cassie again rose and moved to stand in front of the raised dais and directly in front of the seated Gabrielle. Watching. Waiting. Intimidating the thousand year old artifact with her mere presence. Well her presence and the fact that she was now playing with a bright orange ball of flame in her right hand and staring at the hat with her head cocked to one side and a very creepy smile on her face.

"Psycho Freak!"

Deputy headmistress McGonagall was giving her a fake disapproving look as she removed the sorting hat fom the veela and Cassie held out her left hand to Gabby while blowing on her right to dispell her fiery friend. The little veela jumped off of the stool and skipped over to embrace her emerald eyed friend and protector, squeezing her tightly and inspiring a great many sighs of envy at their obvious closeness.

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Back in London Fleurdamorte sat alone at the ancient desk in the Black Library at Twelve Grimmuald Place half hidden behind a stack of books on Wizangamot law deep in concentration. She was looking for something, anything that could be used as a loophole to pull her old lieutenant out of her less than ideal situation at Azkaban and back to her rightful place by her side. The 'imperious' defence that so many of her former followers had used was out unfortunately as there was no-one quite as clearly un-imperioused as the strange and insane Bellatrix Lestrange. She was proud of what she had done for the cause and went to her punishment without complaint and with her head held high in the the full belief that she had been right to do everything that she had done.

Which may, in retrospect, prove to be her way out of prison.

The only way that someone would be so fervent in their beliefs, even in the face of such a terrible fate as imprisonment in Azkaban for the rest of their natural life, was if they had been altered on a magical level. In other words magically enslaved by means of a dark artifact or contract. A magical enslavement would also explain away her indisputable insanity as it was known to have an extremely serious effect on the mental stability of the targetted individual. Enslavement by contract. Which would lay the blame for all of her heinous acts squarely at the door of the Lestrange brothers.

This could actually work.

She would have to plan it very carefully and it would take some extremely delicate work to infuse such a horrific curse into the contract and 'age' it so as to avoid the forgery being discovered but it would be oh so worth the effort. The biggest problem that she had was persuading the Blacks that Bellatrix's betrothal and marriage contracts needed to be reviewed and tested for dark magic. It may be time to plant some ideas on investigating the circumstances behind her Auntie Bella's behaviour into the wonderfully suggestible mind of her adorably clumsy, auror girlfriend. Not that she needed to bother with all that really as the young woman was more than happy to do whatever her gorgeous, sexy, veela girlfriend wanted since the recent escalation in their physical relationship.

The sweet and staunchly loyal auror Tonks had finally been rewarded for her patience last week by the Dark Lady giving herself to her and the shift in the dynamic between them had been immediately recognised by the others in the house. Apparently having a foot wide smile on her face all day and calling her 'Dora darling' from the morning that followed their naughty night-time adventure was somewhat noticeable and the couple had received some merciless ribbing. Not from Andromeda though whose smile was both happy and slightly sad at the same time. She would have to admit that the sex was definitely worth all the teasing that they took for it.

It had felt good. Like _really_ good. Something that had confused Fleurdamorte for some time until she remembered the conversation that she and her host had had on the night of her liberation from Delacour Villa. She and Fleur were one, bound together in body and mind, a fact that had seemingly escaped her remembrance while struggling with all these new and un-wanted feelings that kept on surfacing as the Summer had progressed. Veelas were sexual beings after all and it was only natural that her new body would be craving for the intimacy that she had denied it for so long.

There was also the fact that Nymphadora Tonks was an extremely skilled lover.

Of course just how Bellatrix would react when she found out that her beloved and admired Dark Lord was now a French semi-human creature who was sleeping with her half blood freak of a niece was another matter entirely. Fleurdamorte thought that she ought to give her lieutenant that inormation early on before she recovered enough to act on any poor reaction that she might have to the news. Her little sparring session with the Black Witch had brought into sharp focus just how much weaker this new form was compared to her old body, both physically and magically and how much she needed to improve. Until then she was going to have to rely on help from people like Dora and Bella and maybe even Cassie if she could allay any lingering doubts that the girl had about her.

Before any of this could happen though Fleurdamorte had to get the original copy of Bella's contracts so that she could alter them and they would be buried in some hidden place by the always paranoid Black family. To find them she would need an ally. A friend in the House of Black who would do anything she asked if it brought about the return of her most brilliant and trusted follower. A sneaky and devious friend who had access to everything in every property including the Black vaults at Gringotts. She needed a friend like ...

"Kreacher!"

The expected soft pop brought the wrinkled old House elf into view.

"Miss Nymphie's blonde girl calls." His eyes narrowed. "What can the twin souled half breed want with poor old Kreacher he wonders?"

Fleurdamorte smiled cruelly at the suspicious elf with the surprising knowledge of her status. She was going to enjoy finding out how he knew about the soul magic that she had performed. That was perhaps something for another day though, right now she had a task to begin and she would require his undivided attention which she got with her first question.

"How much do you love Miss Bellatrix Kreacher?"

The suspicion melted away at her mention of that name to be replaced by a misty eyed look of longing. He would never dream of telling Mistress Cassandra this, mainly because he was extremely scared of what she would do to him if he did, but Missie Bella was his favourite of all the Blacks that he had ever served. Even the great Walburga didn't reach that special place that he held in his heart for the wild and wonderful Bellatrix. He couldn't explain it, she just was. Not that he was about to tell the blonde girl any of this. He had been around the Black family too long to trust that his words would go unheard by the scary, green eyed Mistress of the House. However, if she were planning sdomething to help Miss Bella then he would be all ears.

"Kreacher is listening."

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Having discussed the possibility that it may happen it had been agreed that the five first years were to be placed in amongst the older Freaks right away in order to start their integration into the House. So it was that Megan Powell found herself sat in between a spacey looking blonde girl with radishes hanging off of her ears and an incredibly pretty, black haired girl in her mid to late teens with a large python coiled around her neck. This pretty girl was now looking back at her, clearly appraising her with her startling, emerald green eyes and moving her hands around in short, complex patterns that were almost mesmerising her when the bonde on the other side of her piped up.

"She's asking what your name is."

The strange dreamy voice from beside her wasn't really helping with her minimal understanding of the language that she was speaking so Megan fell back on her stock phrase that she had learned for this kind of situation.

"Sorry. My English ... isn't very ... good."

On hearing her broad North Wales accent a hush descended on the table and she began to get really nervous until she noticed that the older black haired girl beside her was smiling broadly and gesturing for one of the smaller, similarly dark haired witches to come over to them.

"Alright then, I'm Cerys. Do you only speak Welsh then bach?"

Megan's relief at hearing the girl's lyrical South Wales twang was palpable.

"Rwy'n siarad ychydig o Saesneg ond gan amlaf Cymraeg. Beth sydd o'i le gyda hi?" _(I speak a little English but mostly Welsh. What's wrong with her?)_

"Mae hi'n mute ond mae hi'n llofnodi yn Gymraeg a Saesneg, ac os nad ydych yn gwybod pwy yw hi, yna mae'n rhaid i chi gael ei eni Muggle." _(She's mute but she signs in Welsh and English and if you don't know who she is then you must be muggle born like me.)_

"Math o, mae fy nheulu yn Derwyddon o Anglesea." _(Sort of, my family are Druids from Angelsea.)_

"Wel dwi'n Cerys o Aberafan, dyna Greg ei fod o Gaerffili a'r un gyda'r neidr yw Cassie o Aberystwyth. Mae hi'n briodol enwog." _(Well I'm Cerys from Aberavon, that's Greg he's from Caerphilly and the one with the snake is Cassie from Aberystwyth. She's proper famous.)_

And now that she looked around a bit more carefully she could see that indeed everyone in the hall was casting small glances filled with love, lust and admiration and, in a few isolated cases, fear over towards the strangely silent girl. In fact one of the other girls that had been called for the Freaks, the cute one with the pale pink parasol, Alex something or other she thought, had her chin in her hands and was just gazing adoringly at her older neighbour. Who was now smiling rather creepily at her and stroking that python while hissing lowly at it. Bloody hell she couldn't talk to people but she could speak to cocking snakes? That was just ... well actually kind of cool. In a weird and creepy way obviously but cool never the less.

The Cerys girl then continued on telling her that in fact almost everyone in this House spoke Welsh to some degree and that they would all help her with her English if she wanted. They all grinned at Megan and, to her amazement, introduced themselves in her own language apart from two of the older boys and her fellow first years. They all looked a bit shell-shocked as well and a couple of them appeared to be positively scared and from the direction of their glances it seemed to have something to do with the mute, snake girl next to her. Not that she could see why since this Cassie person had been nothing but all smiles to her so far.

She couldn't quite decide if it was terrible news or a stroke of good luck that she had somehow found herself in the middle of the Hogwarts Welsh mafia with a strange and beautiful, serpent speaking 'godfather'. She tuned back into the boring speeches that the large boy, Greg, was translating for her in time to catch the ugly pink clad woman making a lot of falsely sweet but still threatening declarations of only being 'here to help'. Her question was was ... help who? She looked like a nasty piece of work who couldn't quite surpress the venom in her voice when she talked of 'natural' wizards and witches. For a muggle born and a proud Welsh pagan like Megan this smelled of bigotry. And trouble.

Cassie watched her newest Welsh compatriot watching Umbridge, saw the hard set of her jaw and smiled thinking to herself that this Megan was a clever little thing if she was able to catch the double meanings scattered around in their new Defence professor's speech. Having met her only briefly she was actually quite interested in listening to endless barbs and veiled threats aimed at the headmaster but, as Megan obviously did, she also caught the more hidden targets behind the foul looking woman's words. She was one of those who thought that half breeds, half bloods and muggle borns were both inferior to and a threat to all 'decent' magicals. Meaning old money pure bloods.

Delores Umbridge's chances of surviving the year were dropping every moment that she continued to speak.

She did eventually stop though, having first dug herself into an early grave with her increasingly unsubtle inferences about the capability of those not born into the wizarding world and once they had all been fed and watered it was time for the House heads to round up their students. Aurora Sinistra appeared behind Cassie, put her hands on the scary young witch's shoulders and started to pet both the girl and her snake while she looked over to Susan and Draco and softly, almost reverently, spoke to them.

"Prefects take your charges to the dorms please."

Susan and Draco immediately looked to Cassie for her nod of confirmation of course, which amused her faculty head no end while also having the added unintended but still very pleasing bonus of annoying the shit out of the headmaster. Albus Dumbledore was almost puce in colour now after all of the indignities which the Ministry stooge and the hated Black heiress had heaped upon him tonight. The fact that he knew it was coming didn't help even slightly and it was with very little in the way of good grace that he swept out of the great hall and up into his office although he did manage to curb his need to start throwing things around until he got there.

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 **Your reviews are oh so** _ **precious**_ **to me but not necessary. I'm certainly not going to hold you guys to ransom over them.**

 **Good? Bad? Leave your thoughts although you can always PM me with ideas, suggestions, comments if you want. Dylan the Rabbit. xx**


	9. Chapter 9

**As I did in Silent World I'm going to take nearly a whole chapter to introduce the new Psycho Freaks and give you a bit of their history and background. They're not going to be major players but they will be interracting regularly with the others so I think it's worth doing.**

 **After a thought provoking comment from mergirl007 and some furious PM'ing between the two of us I have decided to make one the new intake transgender. Now if that's not your kind of thing that's okay, as I say they're not going to be major characters and you can always skip this chapter without missing too much, but since you're here reading this I'm betting that you're probably a lot more open to it than that.**

 **As always if you have ideas, suggestions or want to see something happen then put it in a review or give me a PM. As you have seen in Silent World I am more than happy to adapt it as we go if I find something that you've suggested helpful, useful or just plain amusing.**

 **I still don't own Harry Potter otherwise I'd be writing all day instead of working to pay the bills.**

 **Dylan the Rabbit. xx**

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 **Season of The Witch.**

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 **9\. Changes.**

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The Psycho Freaks left the great hall as they had entered it. Last and slightly late. This was, once again, a perfectly planned action to give their probably rather confused new members a chance to take a breath for a moment and not to have to deal with the crowd of students bottle necking at the entrance. Once the way was clear they rose as a House, each of the first years being offered the hand of an older Housemate, and headed for the exit together. They shook themselves into a snaking two by two formation as the professor, thirteen young witches and five young wizards wound their way through the dimly lit corridors of the ancient castle to the newly renovated and expanded tower on it's Eastern edge.

It was a thoughtful Alex Broughton who followed along, trailing at the back of the group and holding tightly to her pale pink parasol in one hand and her other pale, sweaty palm being held in the surprisingly loose grip of her guide. A somewhat taciturn guide whose huge physical presence absolutely dwarfed her.

The comfort that she felt in the shadow of the tall, muscled figure of Vincent Crabbe was also surprising as, apart from her father, she had never had much in the way of luck with any of the males in her life. She had certainly never had the same sense of security from them that this positive giant of a young man gave to her with his gentle touch and sparing but comforting comments. When they had started on their two by two trek to their new home Alex had been envious of the tough looking Welsh girl Megan who had her hand enclosed in the grip of the most beautiful and perfect witch to ever walk upon the Earth. Cassandra Evans-Black. The brave young woman who had defied the conventions of the Wizarding world to live how she wanted to live and love who she wanted to love, changing attitudes and in the process become her personal heroine. Now, however, as he squeezed her hand lightly and smiled down at her, she was feeling quite glad to be here on this journey with Vincent. He was like an enormous teddy bear, all cuddly and comforting.

And she was in dire need of some of that.

Alex had been born into the common wizarding House of Broughton and had come late to parents who had believed themselves to be well past the age at which conception could occur. However, this was the magical world and what the muggles considered to be miracles happened with a great deal more regularity here. Her mother had been wishing, _aching_ for a child for four decades and finally, at the age of seventy two, Euphemia Alexis Broughton's prayers had been answered. She and her husband Joleon, who was then edging ninety, had been granted their own little miracle.

Little Alex had brought an unending amount of pleasure into the lives of her parents who, like many people who were blessed with children later on in life, spoiled her terribly. She had wanted for nothing and been indulged in everything, spending much of her time playing with her mother's dolls, which Euphemia had kept from her own rather pampered childhood, and running around in her clothes and high heels. None of which would have been a problem except that Alex had been born a boy. Not that she had ever felt like one. It was not a matter of choice for Alex. From the first moment that she remembered she had always been a girl in her heart, despite what the oddly growing body in that traitorous bloody mirror was continually and insistently telling her.

This was a few years before Cassie had begun to change the perceptions of her fellow magicals with her refusal to live her life by their rules and her obstinate refusal to be closetted or ignored because of who she chose to love and the world was a very different place back then. Even so Euphemia and Joleon loved their child so much that they could not stand to see her unhappy so they had vowed to do whatever Alex wanted or needed them to despite the possible consequences to their social life. Even if she had never actually asked them to. They felt that it was their place as Alex's parents to give him/her his/her often vocalised heart's desire and without hesitation or delay set about discovering exactly how this could be achieved.

The magic wasn't easy to find or accomplish and took many months to find and many more to practice and master but by her ninth birthday they were finally ready. Without consulting her and with the casual application of the appropriate, not quite dark but definitely frowned upon, magic her body was changed from a boy's to a girl's almost overnight. And although it was what Alex had always wanted and believed that she was, there had been no follow ups, nobody asking how she was coping. Not one person had asked her opinion or given her theirs. They had simply assumed that this was what she wanted and made the change and sometimes the unbelievable vastness of the change that she had undergone led to her complex feelings about it crowding in upon her and making it hard to breathe. Like now when she thought about her new Housemates finding out.

And they would find out because Alex herself would tell them. By her own hard thought out moral code she could not, in good conscience, let the other girls in her dorm operate under the assumption that she had always been a girl because of issues like changing and bathrooms. Some people got _very_ upset by this kind of thing. She had been on the receiving end of that kind of attitude many times in the past from even her own family and friends. Not that she had many of those left after her transformation. Children and indeed adults could be so very cruel in their ignorance. So Alex had developed a few oddities and eccentricities that she employed as mental crutches, things to fall back on when the world proved itself too much for her to deal with like her two tone hair, half pink, half brown. There was nothing quite so calming to her as washing, recolouring then drying and brushing those strange and gorgeous looking long locks.

The parasol that she carried was another one of these mental crutches that Alex relied on to ground her in her new body. It was also eminently practical since it was where she kept her wand, slotted snugly in the hollowed out handle and always within easy reach. The cruel pranks of those who disagreed with her lifestyle had made her rather paranoid and she always liked to have it close at hand for her protection. She always felt like such a girl when she carried it too which was kind of the point she supposed as she was in fact a girl and had been for more than two years now.

Of course having been called a freak by so many of her horrid relatives for the last couple of years or so it was not a big surprise to her that she had ended up being sorted into the House of the freaks. Something that she was certain those people would not hesitate to remind her of at every opportunity in their future family gatherings. Although knowing that she was now under the banner of the famously, psychotically protective 'Black Witch' may have some positive effect on their previous bad behaviour. Alex's odd violet eyes strayed back to Cassie at this thought and softened as she watched her conjuring small flame animals in her hand for the amusement of her smaller companion.

Cassandra Evans-Black was a true heroine to her and possibly the coolest and kindest person that Alex had ever met. Not a shock really considering the girl's own alternative lifestyle which she so clearly embraced without any kind of doubt or concern for what others thought of her. She was suddenly feeling a lot more confident about the reactions of her Housemates when they learned her secret later on tonight.

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Her curly reddish black hair bounced as the girl hurried her steps to keep up with her new Housemates while loosely hanging on to the arm of her older blonde haired companion who was proving to be an absolute mine of information. The girl, who had introduced herself as Luna Lovegood and who she knew to be a frighteningly intelligent, if rather ... _odd_ , witch was pointing out landmarks and points of interest as they travelled with an intensity that was pretty intimidating. In fact all of these witches in the black House were quite intense and intimidating and none more so than their raven haired, emerald eyed leader with the eight foot python coiled around her shoulders.

However, she was Felicity McGonagall, grand niece of the formidable witch and deputy headmistress Minerva McGonagall and she would _not_ dishonour her family name by being scared now. Not now and not ever in fact. She may not be close with her dead grandfather's sister but she was family and Felicity wasn't going to let her down by being afraid. Determination was apparently a trait that she shared with grand aunt along with a deep respect for the Black Witch if their interractions at the sorting ceremony were anything to go by. She may not have had that much contact with 'Aunt Minerva' as the woman was entirely dedicated to her job here at the school, even spending most of the summer holidays at the castle, but she was family and there was no disguising the McGonnagall quirked lip that indicated the woman's amusement at Cassie's display earlier.

Felicity surmised that she was probably in for a bit of a fun ride here this term since her weirdness was looking to be a positive asset in the House of Freaks instead of the isolation that it caused at home. Her mother and uncle with whom she lived didn't treat her unkindly at all, in fact if anything they were slightly over anxious to make sure that she was never left alone. This was mainly due to an incident that occurred when Felicity was seven and had asked her mum where their magic came from. Being a proud witch from a long and ancient line who, while not as rabid about it as some had still been brought up to believe in blood purity, she had replied that the place where the magic resided was in their blood.

This poorly thought out answer by Mrs McGonagall had some pretty unfortunate consequences as her intelligent and inquisitive daughter had decided to inspect her magic and used one of her mother's best kitchen knives to get at it. The terror that had gripped the woman when she had come into the kitchen to the sight of the dreadully pale Felicity sat on the floor in a veritable lake of her own blood shocked her to her very core. Not that she even for one second considered it to be any fault of hers, instead believing the seven year old girl to be so psychologically disturbed that she had tried to kill herself.

So after a brief stay in St. Mungo's emergency room for the physical wounds to be healed Felicity had been transferred across the other side of the buiding to the mental maladies ward where she had stayed for the next two years. Whether it was embarrasment or guilt that motivated her mother to keep her locked up in the mental ward for so long she had never figured out but she did know that no-one else apart from her had ever visited her in that whole time. She had been hidden away from the world like a shameful secret. Honestly she was not sure if she would ever have been let out were it not for grand aunt Minerva who had, according to one of the nurses that she was friendly with, stormed the hospital, dragging her mother along and forced her to sign the release papers.

Felicity had been witness to the resulting shit storm that went down at her home later that night and it was an object lesson in why you should _not_ wind up the deputy headmistress unless you had a foolproof plan and a very good escape route. Even then it probably wasn't very wise as it seemed that the old woman could sniff out the truth from a good few hundred miles away and Merlin help you then. With the total and unrelenting love and care that her mum lavished upon her following this episode and her return to the family home she was actually glad that 'Auntie Min' had ripped her mum a new one and made her even more reluctant to test the woman's patience.

Not that it wasn't deserved. After all that time spent in that hateful bloody place it had messed with Felicity's mind quite effectively to the point that even if she hadn't been suicidal when she went in she certainly was by the time she left. Or at least that's how it felt to her anyway. There was a mushy kind of confusion in her brain where she was now struggling to separate the fact of her 'experiment' from the fiction of the assumptions of the mind healers who had worked her over so thoroughly for those two years. In the end though the St. Mungo's Psych ward might have left her a bit weird and very socially retarded but it didn't make her stupid.

Apparently the smelly old Hogwarts sorting hat had agreed and placed her here in the home of the strangest and most insane but also the bravest, most cunning, fiercely protective and rather intelligent students in the school. For the first time in a long time Felicity McGonagall felt like she was home.

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Growing up in a camp full of druids and pagans under the shadow of the sacred stones in Angelsea Megan Powell had never imagined that she would be here, a witch in training walking in the hallowed hallways of Hogwarts castle. Magic was a part and parcel of their beliefs and it was no surprise to her that the magical world existed alongside their own and once she had learned that there was a whole school dedicated to teaching magic to which she was eligible to attend she was hooked. That this school had been founded by the direct descendants and apprentices of of Merlin and Morgana themselves just added to her desire to go. Megan was a witch and her community could not be prouder of her for it. There were stories and legends of the magic given by the Gods but she was the first real witch to be born into the old Pagan religion for centuries.

The Pagan leadership had been delighted when the deputy headmistress had turned up to hand deliver Megan's Hogwarts letter as having a real witch in their religious order was considered to be the greatest of gifts from the Gods. The stern looking woman from the school had been rather taken aback to be confronted with a dozen different guardians for the girl who she was here to see and had been slightly worried about the statute of secrecy. In truth Megan was so used to being raised by the whole community and having no secrets or privacy that the whole concept of a 'statute of secrecy' was so alien that it frankly had her stumped. Never the less they had given the appropriate oaths to Bel not to reveal the secret and Megan was on her way.

Getting to London had been a bit of a chore for her but Pagans from all over Wales, the midlands and Southern England had rallied around to get her there, taking the eleven year old girl anything from a couple of miles to to a hundred in one go. She was the chosen one and the followers of her religion all considered it an honour to give her food and lodging for a night or to get her a little way down the road towards her destination. Their respect for her and their generosity to her was overwhelming in it's universal desire to get this 'special' child of the Gods to Kings Cross and the next stage of her journey.

And now she was here.

Here at this amazing, ancient castle and ready to learn how to use her gift. Here with wand in hand and wonder in her heart. Here and sorted into the House of Psycho Freak. That had caused her the first moment of real concern since she had laid eyes on the Hogwarts express and experienced the incredible, magic fuelled and magic filled second part of her journey. It was not an inspiring name. She may not know very many English words at the moment but those two she definitely did and her new Housemates certainly lived up to the name.

Luckily the fact that almost every member of her new House spoke both English and Welsh and seemed more than happy to help her out in any way that they could made up for the odd and uninspiring name. Well that and the further fact that they were led by the prettiest, weirdest, creepiest and downright scariest of all of these members and a fellow Welsh girl, Cassandra Evans-Black who was now holding her hand and leading through the castle.

Megan was feeling rather honoured. Apparently this girl was some kind of Welsh magical superhero, a leader on a par with their own Arthur Pendragon. Since theirs was the second most important site in Britain for Pagans she had seen him quite a few times at the major festivals that were held away from Stone Henge and had to admit that he was an imposing and charismatic man. The snake girl (she supposed that she really should start calling her Cassie like everyone else did) definitely had some of that going on and she was sure that Arthur would be very interested to meet her.

And honestly she really couldn't deny that the girl was interesting as she she was now conjuring balls in fire in the hand that wasn't currently occupied with her own. The flame seemed dance on her hand and then, to Megan's astonishment and pleasure, began to form themselves into the likenesses of mythical or possibly magical creatures. She giggled as Cassie let the tiny dragon currently in her palm drift over and up to release a jet of flame down the corridor, starling the red headed witch and blonde wizard in front and causing everyone behind them to laugh.

As they drew close to a large, well lit tower that had the dark skinned professor from earlier standing in the doorway Megan was once again starting to feel the wonder and awe of Hogwarts rather than the apprehension and fear that her sorting had brought. This incredible place and these strange people may yet turn out to be the best thing about her being a witch.

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Philip Trainor was in heaven. He was finally in the place that he had been dreaming of for months now ever since he had received his Hogwarts letter in June and discovered that he was actually a wizard rather than the scary weirdo that his school mates, neighbours and even his own parents had thought him to be. Well alright he was still a bit of a weirdo if he was being honest, not many eleven year old boys were into ballet, poetry and advanced mathematics after all.

He smiled up at his role model Miss Hermione Granger who was holding his hand and absent mindedly swinging their arms as they walked together. Having known her and her parents for many years he was glad that he had her familiar, calm presence to help him assimilate into the magical world and if the the bright smile that she flashed back at him was to believed then she was rather pleased too. He decided that he did believe it and that, since he did, it made him feel very nice to do so as he now had even more in common with her apart from them both having the beautiful mind, maths genius thing going on.

His neighbour, the bushy haired dentist's daughter from three doors down was also a witch. And not just any witch. She was famous in, what he referred to as 'magic land', for being friends with basically the princess of all the British wizards Cassandra Evans-Black who he had heard more about since his subscription to the Daily Prophet had activated on his eleventh birthday. And Oh My God but didn't she just look like a total princess too. From her long, raven hair framing a face graced with a pale and flawless complexion and perfect make up which, while not subtle, was certainly fitting for her dark, regal demeanour to her _... interesting_ clothing choices. Yes, Philip thought that 'Dark Princess' was a much more fitting and no less accurate description than the 'Black Witch' which is what the papers were calling her.

He would admit that he had been pretty scared of her initially when he had started to read the reports about her in that tournament thing that she had competed in last year as she appeared to be both dangerous and unhinged. Sharing a school with the fourth Tri-Wizard champion had seemed like a daunting prospect but then he had seen a photo of her laughing with Hermione and he relaxed somewhat. The incomparable Miss Granger would not be friends with anyone who was less than a total sweetheart and Philip had then embarked on a campaign to to find out everything he could about her. His parents had been slightly concerned about the sheer amount of Witch and Teen Witch Weeklys that littered his bedroom but since he had been more than a little odd when it came to 'boy stuff' (he had a tutu and ballet points for God's sake) they just shrugged and let him get on with it.

Philip, being very much like Hermione, had educated himself in all things magical in general and Evans-Black in particular was now actually rather looking forward to his new 'special' school again and had little doubt that he would be placed in her newly founded House. He knew full well what a freak he was and exactly where he was going to end up. He was a cross dressing, light loafered, baggy trousered ballet enthusiast and he wasn't hoping or expecting to go to any Hogwarts House other than Psycho Freak to be with his 'people'. The sorting hat didn't disappoint him in this regard and Philip couldn't be happier with its decision.

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Just like Cassie, Jonathon Travis had been born out of wedlock. The son of an un-named and unknown high society, pure blood wizard and his Haitian immigrant mistress he had been raised by his mother to respect both the muggle and wizarding traditions, having a foot in either world so to speak. They lived in a very slightly magically enhanced flat in a cheap muggle neighbourhood and Jon attended a normal (and free) muggle primary school which was supplemented by his mum teaching him magic stuff at the weekends.

Neither of them had many friends, Celestine because of the hours she put in to working and Jonathon because of his inability to talk to other children at their level. It made the dark skinned boy painfully shy and encouraged him to hide his gifts when at primary school. Which wasn't easy because, while distinctly average in some classes he really was very clever indeed when it came to the sciences and all of that brilliance came from the bottom of a saucepan.

He had begun cooking out of necessity, since his mum worked two jobs to try and provide more than just a roof over their heads and didn't get back until nine or ten o'clock most nights, if he didn't cook then he didn't eat. Before very long though, as he started to discover more recipes, he found that it became less of a chore and much more of a pleasure and was soon even experimenting with flavours on his own. His mum was grateful for this hobby as it meant that she was getting treated to a lovely dinner, freshly cooked and kept warm in the oven every night by her absolute sweetheart of a son. Of course they weren't quite so lovely at the start but she appreciated the effort that he put in for her and as he grew in confidence and skill so the quality of her evening meals increased.

As with both most budding chefs and latch-key children Jon was very much in the habit of cleaning up after himself and what started out as a necessary and rather sweet habit to help out his over burdened mother soon escalated into a compulsive need. He became unable to leave the a room unless everything was in it's proper place and spotlessly clean, it made him so nervous and upset to do so that it caused him actual physical pain. He was an eleven year old boy with a major case of OCD.

That he actually knew what it was and recognised that he had it was just as unusual.

By his ninth birthday Jon had progressed from cooking, through physics, chemistry and into the strange and fascinating world of biochemistry. Here in this subject his OCD seemed to be a positive boon, as with his cooking, due to the finicky nature of concocting samlpes and the need for absolute precision and cleanliness. It wasn't that he was some kind of super intelligent genius like Hermione or Philip, more like he simply had a natural aptitude for things that were prepared, stirred, watched and observed and found that, like many other people, he enjoyed it because he was good at it and vice versa. Then Celestine introduced him to potion making and he found his true talent.

The subtle art and science of potion making combined all of Jonathon's most favourite things about cooking, physics and chemistry and he was hooked from the very first moment that he opened that treasured book written by Potions Master Severus Snape, a genius in the field. Then his Hogwarts letter had arrived and he had found out just who he would be studying his passion with for the next seven years. For the entire three months between his eleventh birthday and the start of school the cauldron was never off. Jonathon would be, _had_ to be the best student that Master Snape had ever seen and he worked tirelessly to make that dream happen.

Even learning that his hero was a bit ... _difficult and unpleasant_ ...once he had made it to the Express and listened in on a few conversations between older students it didn't bother him. The man was a true master in his subject and he was entitled to his little quirks of character. In fact Jonathon preferred that man was somewhat taciturn and acerbic as he wasn't exactly a great one for extraneous conversation himself.

Lost in his own thoughts as he was the young budding alchemist and potioneer had drifted through the boat ride, welcome and the sorting without even noticing where he was going or who he was going there with. Well until he reached the Psycho Freak tower that is. Then it all became very real, very quickly.

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Once the trek back to their tower was completed Draco, Susan and Cassie gathered the entire House in their plush common room for some Winky provided hot chocolate and proper introductions. Professor Aurora Sinistra their faculty Head was the first to speak and with Greg Goyle once more in position to translate for their soley Welsh speaking first year Megan she began.

"To our new members I would like to extend my congratulations on becoming part of the Psycho Freak House and yes I am aware of how off-putting that name must be to some of you, however ... " She paused and smiled encouragingly at the first years. " ... you should know that this was a name that was selected by the four founding members of the House in order to take back control of and to 'own' the terms that others were using to try and denigrate them. I hope that you will quickly come to realise how lucky you are to be selected for our House. You will not find better or more loyal and protective friends than these fine young people but you can always come to me if you have an issue that they cannot solve. My door is always open to you."

A smiling Cassie made a point of leading them in a generous round of applause for their still clearly nervous faculty head's maiden Head of House speech. Aurora was quite touched by their actions and did her watery eyed rounds of the students stopping to talk briefly with each of them before returning to the side of the still seated Black Witch and kissing her cheek in a fond thank-you. She flinched and giggled upon receiving a sneaky squeeze on the bum from Cassie who was extremely careful to do this out of the eye line of her betrothed. As usual, Susan seemed to know immediately that something was up and narrowed her eyes in suspicion at her black haired girlfriend who then confirmed her nefarious behaviour by giving her the wide, wet, innocent puppy eyes that she was so good at.

Susan was not buying it for a second but decided to wait until she had Cassie alone and at her mercy in their bedroom before interrogating her further. Possibly while she was restrained with those furry, leopardskin, padded handcuffs that had become something of a favourite in their bedroom play. She would easily get the truth out of her mischievous minx of a betrothed especially when she combined the handcuffs with her riding crop. Coming out of her dreamy and slightly drool filled sexual daze to see the concerned first years staring at her open mouthed Susan shook herself, set her jaw firmly and turned to address the House.

"Welcome back everyone and before you say it Luna, yes, I know that most of us have spent a great deal of the summer together but it's my first ever Prefect speech and I'm going to bloody well do it properly."

"Is swearing in front of the first years part of 'doing it properly' then?"

Luna Lovegood received one of the Bones heiress' _special_ glares for her comment which appeared to do nothing more than to make her snicker while grinning wildly at the red headed Prefect.

"To continue." Susan's now gravelly voice and fierce demeanour practically dared anyone else to interrupt her. "None of you should be worried about being a 'Freak'. We may be the newest House and the smallest House in Hogwarts but we are also the most magically powerful House ... and the smartest ... and the prettiest ... and we _always_ look after our own." She looked each of the new Freaks in turn. "That means you Philip ... and you Jonathon ... and you Felicity ... and you Alex ... and you Megan will be under the protection of not just Psycho Freak House but also the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. You guys are probably the safest students in the entire school right now and no-one is going to mess with you as they all know and fear the consequences if they do. Rightly so. Still, travelling in groups of two or more is always recommended as the stupidity of some Hogwarts students can never be over estimated."

There was a slight pause as Susan, having got a bit carried away there, willed herself to become less scary and more maternal.

"We always try and do things like homework and study assignments together here in the common room so that everyone has access to both older years and our rather ... _eclectic_ library to assist them and there is almost always someone around to help you out if necessary. This way we have found that our schoolwork is always done quickly and efficiently and leaves us more time to self study or just play around and honestly nobody here cares if you're brilliant ... "

She nodded to Hermione.

" ... Or hopeless ... "

Another nod at Charli this time.

" ... as long as you try your best."

There was much sniggering and joshing at this.

"Now we also have a few traditions that have sprung up in the House over the last couple of years, one of which is that we have a bit of a welcoming party on the first weekend of the new year which is ... oh look, tomorrow. What idiot thought that coming back to school on a Friday was a good idea?"

There came a loud reply of many voices all shouting ' _Dumbledore!_ ' although there were a couple of 'bearded wanker's in there too. Susan broke her stern character for a moment to have a snorting chuckle at these impromptu additions to her monologue before re-setting her face and continuing.

"This party will take place tomorrow evening and will entail much eating of sweets, drinking of butterbeer and some of the older girls have even been known to perform a rather special 'House dance' for our new intake which I see has pleased our second years as well."

Indeed Cerys, Mathilde, Juliette and Gabby looked positively rabid at the mention of the dancing and the first years wondered what kind of dance it was that could be outrageous enough to cause their reaction.

"Sunday will then be devoted to giving anyone who needs it a guided tour of the castle so that you can map out your best routes to class and mark nearby bathrooms et cetera. As much as we don't want to overwhelm or upset you these few activities have been organised to help you get your bearings and find your feet so they will be mandatory I'm afraid. Anyway, in conclusion."

The red head spread her arms wide and grinned madly at them all.

"Welcome to the Freakshow."

Speeches done, how to sign books were handed out to the first years and they were all given the full tour of the newly expanded tower by professor Sinistra. As expected Susan and Cassie were delighted with their private attic room and gave their faculty Head a huge hug and gushing praise for all of her hard work with this and all of the other facilities that she had provided for them. They were not far behind the tired eleven year olds as they retreated to their respective dormitories to bathe and sleep but the two betrothed heiresses had much more strenuous activities in mind for their bedtime. It was time for Cassie and Susan to 'christen' their new suite.

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 **Your reviews are oh so** _ **precious**_ **to me but not necessary. I'm certainly not going to hold you guys to ransom over them.**

 **Good? Bad? Leave your thoughts although you can always PM me with ideas, suggestions, comments if you want. Dylan the Rabbit. xx**


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up but as I'm sure you're aware, sometimes the words come and the story flows and sometimes it doesn't. This one was definitely the latter case.**

 **As always if you have ideas, suggestions or want to see something happen then put it in a review or give me a PM. As you have seen in Silent World I am more than happy to adapt it as we go if I find something that you've suggested helpful, useful or just plain amusing.**

 **I still don't own Harry Potter otherwise I'd be writing all day instead of working to pay the bills.**

 **Dylan the Rabbit. xx**

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 **Season of The Witch.**

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 **10\. The Windmills of Your Mind.**

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Fleurdamorte was once more in the library at Twelve Grimmuald Place, hidden away in the back of the room. Once she had made the decision that she was going to free her most insane but weirdly most reliable lieutenant from prison, she had then had to wait around until the paranoid and observant Cassie and her cadre of scary little witches had pushed off back to Hogwarts before even beginning to research her plan. It never once crossed her mind to question why she started that research the absolute _second_ that they were gone. She was excited. 'Super' excited as the bossy Granger girl would say and she leapt straight in.

Now an exhausting night and a day later and she had reduced the piles of parchment and weighty old dark magic tomes down to just those that she needed for her piece of subterfuge in meddling with the affairs of a Noble and Most Ancient House. Four pieces of parchment were laid out across the middle of the desk being surrounded by half a dozen large and ancient looking books which the Dark Lady was flicking through every now and again to find the most effective form of the enslavement curse to use.

Kreacher was keeping a look out by the main door to the library, ready to pop over and spirit away the incriminating evidence of the extremely delicate and highly illegal operation that Miss Nymphie's blonde girl was attempting on Missy Bella's marriage contract. He would have liked to have been there to watch, firstly so that he could check that the twin souled trickster wasn't actually trying to harm his favourite member of the Blacks and secondly so that he could see her perform the dark curse that she talked of. Unfortunately for him however, the current Lord and Lady of the House wouldn't hesitate to stop her if she was caught so it was boring old look out duty for Kreacher. Not that he would complain if it meant Missy Bella was restored to him.

There was a brief moment of panic for both Kreacher and Fleurdamorte the previous night when 'Darling Dora' had come looking for her, wondering why she had not come to bed but they had managed to keep her from seeing too much. The auror's curiosity about what her girlfriend was up to had not been sated but she still seemed to accept it when told that Fleur was working on a special project for the family and that 'a girl had to keep _some_ secrets'. Tonks had actually been inordinately pleased that Fleur was so intent on helping the Blacks with ... whatever it was she was doing and one look at the vast piles of paperwork and reference books had convinced her that she would not be a big help in the endeavour anyway.

Other than this small interruption the Dark Lady's research had continued on unimpeded and she had found what she was looking for after a mere twenty hours of research. Kreacher was then called upon to retrieve all copies of the betrothal and marriage contracts between Bellatrix and the Lestranges from their hiding places and after a short rest she had set to work in earnest.

Infusing a dak curse into a twenty year old piece of parchment work and ageing it to appear valid and hence avoid suspicions of 'line tampering' was not as easy as it sounded ... and she had to do it four bloody times. If Bella wasn't quite so damned valuable to her Fleurdamorte would have given up after her sixth failed attempt. But she was, so she kept going and on the sixteenth try she had finally managed it and after the four copies were altered and returned to their places of rest by the now ecstatic chief House elf of the Blacks she could finally head for her bed to rest.

As Fleurdamorte climbed the stairs of Twelve Grimmuald Place to her and Dora's shared bedroom she found herself wearily pondering the next phase of her grand plan. Both her girlfriend and Lady Black had to be persuaded that something was amiss with the contracts and Bella's subsequent murderous behaviour. Dora's mum Andromeda and her younger sister Narcissa might be the best route for those suspicions she thought and since they both adored her this would be fairly easy to accomplish. She was also going to need to warn Bellatrix of what was coming and how she would be required to act once the wheels of her plan were set in motion and that meant that Fleurdamorte was going to have to go into the belly of the beast. It meant a trip to Azkaban. She just hoped that her Veela skills were good enough to ensure it was a two way trip.

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The first and second years were rudely awakened early on Saturday morning by a squealing, half naked blonde darting into their dorm and putting her finger to her lips with an exagerrated shushing sound before wriggling into the small crawl space under Felicity's bed. A bleary eyed and sleepy Megan thought that since she had been squealing rather loudly herself then the shushing of them made no sense whatsoever but was prepared to let it go if she was allowed to go back to sleep with minimal fuss. It seemed that this wasn't going to permitted, however, as the ginger haired Black sister slammed the door open with more force than was strictly necessary.

"Luna! Where are all my fucking knickers you little cow."

Obviously spying the pair of bare feet sticking out from under one of the beds Ginny stormed over, bent down and dragged the giggling 'Luna' girl out into the dim morning light to attack with an almighty tickle assault. The blonde, with a surprising amount of strength for someone so small and petite, flipped her attacker off her and leapt across the room to jump into the bed of a very suprised Alex Broughton.

The still sleepy and less than half awake Alex gave a bit of a mental shrug before looping a slender, possessive arm around her new soft and squishy body pillow, spooning her from behind and drifting off again. Ginny had reached the bedside and had just opened her mouth to remonstrate loudly with her insane blonde girlfriend when luna managed to wiggle a finger free and put it to her lips.

"Shush you'll wake up my new girlfriend and then she'll be all cranky and won't give me any smoochies later."

Dis-belief crossed the ginger girl's face before it hardened into something much more akin to a devious smirk.

"Right, two can play at _that_ bloody game." She stomped over to next bed, pulled off her sleep shirt and climbed in. "Budge up Megs."

Unable to quite believe that a totally buck naked fourth year girl had just climbed uninvited into her bed and started cuddling her tightly Megan shook her head a few times in wonder at the weirdness of it all. Unfortunately since her face was curently buried in Ginevra Black's rapidly growing chest there were unforseen ... _consequences_.

"Oooh _my_ new girlfriend's much more feisty than yours. I think I've just been motorboated."

Everybody in the dorm was wide awake now apart from the still peacefully slumbering Alex murmering about 'snuggly wugglies' and causing Luna to giggle quietly and poke her tongue at Ginny. There was some confusion about the new bed mates for two of their first years but most of them just accepted that it was simply Luna being ... well Luna and were about to curl back up under the covers again when the door opened again and a stern looking Prefect Bones entered. The red head huffed in frustration as she took in the sleeping arrangements while the three other girls peering in from behind just sniggered.

"Right come on you lot nobody's supposed to be sharing beds at school."

"Don't you and Cassie sleep together in the same bed?"

Susan glared at her fellow red head before Hermione also decided to undermine her authority flicking a finger between herself and Charli.

"Ummm ... and us?"

Susan counted to ten and tried to regulate her breathing.

"Okay. Anyone who is below a fifth year shouldn't be sharing a bed."

"Errrr ... what about them?"

There was now some visible twitching occurring in the red head's face as her more and more furious gaze followed Charli's pointing finger to the cuddled up Cerys and Gabby.

"Anyone who is below fifth year and not currently in a Veela soul bond shouldn't be sharing a bed."

"Oh pooh does that mean I have to stop having sex with Ginny now? Because that would be very inconvenient, I've only just succeeded in training her how to ... " She paused or a moment to gaze at the bubbling volcano in the door. "Are you alright there Susan?"

Finally Mount Susan exploded.

"For fucks sake. Oh just do what you pissing well want."

There was a wave of supressed laughter from around the dorm when Charli and Cassie pulled identical faces and did the universal sign for 'handbags' behind Susan's back although they stopped doing it pretty bloody quickly before she turned around. Catching them at their playing around would not have been good as Miss Bones was about a hair's breadth from doling out some serious violence and in no mood to play, despite her rather wonderful and relaxing activities the previous night. It looked like no-one was getting a lie in today.

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If there was one thing the Freaks knew how to do well it throw a party and their Saturday 'welcome to the House' party was the usual mix of loud music, wild dancing and insane games. There were a few subtle differences to last year's event, however, since they now had five male members in the tower clothing had been made compulsory rather than optional with everyone expected to wear _at least_ pajamas and a robe. Even Luna. Actually _especially_ Luna. Another difference was the more reserved atmosphere thanks to the presence of two fifth year prefects who were desperately trying to impress their faculty head and prove that her trust in them wasn't mis-placed.

They needn't have bothered as professor Sinistra had no illusions as to just how badly ignored Susan and Draco were going to be by their rambunctious Housemates and would be happy enough if they only managed to curb ten percent of their insanity.

Susan's second day as a prefect wasnt going very well. It had started with all that kerfuffle in the lower year dormitory this morning and was continuing now in the evening with someone having sneaked alcohol into the punch. There weren't going to any prizes given for guessing who was responsible for _that_ debacle. She glared at the two rule breaking eldest Black sisters who were becoming increasingly cheeky and lewd as they attempted to polish off the spiked drink almost on their own. Susan would admit that the more pissed they got the funnier their innuendo became but that wasn't exactly helping with her trying to establish herself as a dependable authority figure for the first years and eventually she ended up grabbing Charli's girlfriend for some much needed moral support.

"Come along Hermione let's go and find someone to talk to who _isn't_ a snarky little moo with a one track mind."

Susan offered her arm to the bushy haired girl and put their noses in the air as they regally swept from the common room to a soft chorus of titters and giggles. They were only going to the bathroom but their respective girlfriends didn't need to know that.

"What's the feckin' feck's up with them?"

Cassie shrugged.

 **Witches be crazy.**

"What be who now?"

 **It's a quote from a famous muggle philosopher. well** _ **nearly**_ **.**

"Did they know about magic then?"

 **No.**

"But they knew about _witches_ so they must have known about magic."

Cassie sat back and amused herself by watching the expressions chase across her sister's face while she processed her thoughts on their conversation. She applauded condescendingly as, all of a sudden, Charli's mouth dropped open as she realised what the word 'witches' should probably have been. Then she gave her slightly older sister an evil smirk.

"Oh you're going to be in _sooo_ much trouble when I tell Suze what you just called her."

As Charli sprang out of her seat and raced to the door Cassi cast a quick glance at the four second years watching their conversation carefully from near the door and nodded her head at the sprinting Irish witch.

 **Sic her girls.**

There was a muffled 'eeep' as Charli immediately disappeared beneath a pile of black robed witches. A very brief moment passed where Megan, Alex and Philip all looked at Cassie and then each other before racing over and joining in the bundle while the much more reserved Jonathon and Felicity continued to pit their intellectual wits against the might of Vince and Greg in a life or death game of jenga. From his armchair off to the side Draco watched the beaming raven haired girl petting her python and the little cat that were both curled up in her lap.

"Smashing party cousin."

 **It has been rather splendid hasn't it.**

"Can I just ask how in the hell you got Susan calmed down to this level without the use of alcohol? I mean she looked like she was going to blow a gasket this morning and now she's all ... and I hesistate to use the word, but ... playful."

 **Calming draft in her tea.**

"Merlin's hairy ball sack! How does she not taste that crap, it's awful."

 **She does taste it but she doesn't care. Suzie knows when she goes overboard but she can't seem to stop herself doing it anyway so she doesn't mind when I give her bit of a helping hand. Speaking of which I think it's high time for me to go and stick my helping hand up her ...**

"Merlin Cassie _no._ I do _not_ need to know the details of what you and your betrothed get up to in private." Draco rather looked as if he was going to be sick. "Like _ever_."

His beautiful but creepy cousin smirked at him, poked her tongue out and licked her lips in a lascivious and utterly entrancing manner and lifted herself off of the sofa. After a bit of a wobbly false start on clearly slightly rubbery legs the drunk girl went around the room, kissing everyone on top of their heads before making for the stairs and ascending them hastily, but carefully, to find her girlfriend. She had a lot of apologising to do to Suzie for her behaviour today and wanted to get a 'head' start on implementing her payment plan. Cassie was looking forward to it immensely.

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It wasn't often that the Head of House's Office/Study at Twelve Grimmuald Place had been in any kind of use by the Black family today, however, was an exception to that rule. Lord Sirius and Lady Amelia Black sat back in their uncomfortable chairs and just stared at their visitor in shock and surprise, dumbfounded and attempting to process what he was saying to them. It was just that outrageous.

"I'm sorry Minister I didn't quite catch that. You want to give my daughter an Order of Merlin."

"Yes."

"My daughter _Cassandra_."

"Yes."

"My daughter Cassandra who killed sixteen people with a bloody great scythe and some distinctly dark magic of _questionable_ legality in a psychopathic rage while she 'rescued' Mademoiselle Delacour before going back and cutting off their heads and setting fire to a private residence in a foreign country ... _That's_ who you want to give an Order of Meriln to."

"Ye-ee-es." There was some hesitation starting to creep into the Minister's voice now.

"Oh well if you're sure you want to do that Cornelius." He shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm equally sure that she won't turn it down if that's all you're worried about."

She probably would turn it down and in the most impolite way she could come up with but Fudge didn't need to know that. In fact it would much, much more fun to watch if he didn't.

"Now then Siri dear Minister Fudge is probably just happy that Cassie permanently dealt with the remnant of the Death Eater threat while saving the country a lot of very costly and embarrassing trials ..." She winked at the tubby little man sat nervously twisting his horrid green hat in his hands. " ... and it's not like there's any need for anyone to know about the ... _forceful_ tactics she employed to get the job done now is there."

Fudge gave a huge sigh of relief at having the apparent support of the woman who was both the girl's step mother and the Head of the DMLE.

"Yes, yes that's exactly it Lady Black."

Lord Sirius Orion Black had his hand clenched into a claw, digging painfully into the meaty muscle of his thigh in order to keep him from bursting out in hysterical laughter at the absurdity of the current situation. The Minister of bloody Magic was going to give his volatile, temperamental and spectacularly violent primary heiress an Order of sodding Merlin for butchering the very same people that, considering they were Voldemort's butt buddies, she would have considered her mortal enemies anyway. Best. Prank. Ever.

Now all he and Amy had to do was flatter the preening Minister into making the presentation in an as embarrassingly public a place and manner as possible and his day would be complete. Besides he _really_ wanted to be there when when Fudge worked out that Cassie couldn't give a flying fuck about his stupid Order of Merlin as she rammed it up his arse.

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The eighteen black robed figures filed into the hall in the same two by two formation that they had left it on Friday night to many raised eyebrows from staff and students alike. It was unusual to see the Psycho Freaks at their table in the great hall of Hogwarts for Sunday lunch since they normally dined in their tower at the weekends but for two certain blonde girls watching interestedly from the Slytherin side it created something of an opportunity. Daphne and Astoria Greengrass had been given a job to do and very little time in which to do it so this unexpected turn of events was fortuitous indeed.

Their father Lord Cygnus Greengrass had been rather put out when the betrothal of Cassandra Evans-Black and Susan Bones was announced in the summer as he had spent a great deal of time drawing up an offer for his eldest daughter to be considered as a match for the Black heiress. This was despite the fact that Daphne and Astoria had both told him repeatedly that there was no chance for anyone other than the Bones heiress when it came to the Black Witch as the two of them were totally besotted with each other. His immediate comeback after the news broke was for him to observe that there were five other Black sisters, two of whom were defintiely unattached and one male cousin and since Lord Black didn't seem to be a fan of contracts they had best get their seduction boots on.

Cygnus desperately wanted an alliance with the rising power of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, even more so now that the Head of the DMLE had married into the family, and he was fully prepared to sacrifice one or both of his daughters to get it. He didnt much care which of them they chose, although he definitely favoured the girls over Lucius Malfoy's idiot boy, only that at least _one_ Greengrass should be romantically involved with at least _one_ Black by the time Halloween rolled around. Preferably both so that he could have more chance of a line continuation clause being accepted when they were married.

The two girls in question had always known that being married off for the 'good of the family' rather than for love was more than just a remote possibility for them. Being good girls, respectful of their father and knowing that he could have chosen a _lot_ worse familes to tie them to, Daphne and Astoria rose swiftly and headed to the Psycho Freaks table to see if they couldn't make some new 'friends'.

"Mister Black."

"Miss Greengrass ..." Draco spied another blonde peeking out from behind Daphne. " ... and Miss Greengrass the younger. To what do we owe the pleasure of your delectable company?"

"Perhaps we just desired a change of scenery and you have to admit that the view at this table is rather lovely."

"Lovelier now I assure you."

Already sick of the very short bout of pure blood flirting Cassie rolled her eyes, caught Cerys' attention and inclined her head slowly towards 'Princess Hair Gel' while flicking a finger at the bored looking raven on her shoulder. The smaller Welsh girl hid her evil little smirk well. Her newest little sister had clearly been practicing that thought Cassie and she wondered if Granny Walburga realised quite how badly those private lessons of hers were going to come back and bite her in the arse later on. Cerys Black was possibly the most devious little monster that she had ever met. It was one of the many reasons why Cassie loved her so much.

The newly released Hwyel took to his task with glee. Mistress and her scary sister had just given him carte blanche to 'have at' the blonde boy and he intended to use this golden opportunity to the absolute fullest and have some fun.

In order to survive life in the snake pit of Slytherin House it was almost a requirement to be extremely observant, something that Daphne Greengrass had in spades luckily for her. Having spotted Cassie and Cerys' silent exchange she had surrupticiously backed away and was careful to also move her sister away from whatever prank was about to be played on Draco. Considering the mess that the bad tempered raven was making of the poor boy, his robes and the table in general she was rather glad that she had taken the hint and stepped back out of harm's way with Astoria.

The two Greengrass girls looked over at the Black heiress who was smiling wickedly and sharing a high five with the other black haired Welsh girl. Morgana's saggy tits that girl literally didn't have a subtle bone in her entire body did she. As was shown by her distinctly Gryffindorish behaviour when she was confronted with ... well pretty much anything that was in her way really. Trolls, dementors, dragons, Death Eaters, she took them all head on and without hesitation but then when you had as much power as Cassandra Evans-Black seemed to have Daphne supposed that you could get away with that. That kind of power was intoxicating. And bloody sexy too.

Not for the first time Daphne found herself regretting that her father hadn't managed to secure that betrothal contract with her and one look at her slack jawed sister told her that she was equally upset. Cassie, noticing her and Astoria staring at her, very slowly and almost casually poked her long, thin, pink tongue out and used the small, forked tip to lick along her left eyebrow smoothing it into perfection. And then she winked at them as she withdrew it to run around her luscious, ruby red lips, smirking at the blushing reaction that this action prompted from the blondes.

"Eeep."

The strangled exclamation of surprise came from both of the Greengrass sisters and was made all the louder by their embarassment at their equally visceral reaction to the sight of Cassandra Evans-Black's tongue doing ... that.

"For Merlin's sake Cassandra, do you think that you could at least _try_ not to flirt with other girls while I'm sitting right exactly beside you?"

The Slytherin girls' blushes were coming thick and fast now as they jumped when they saw that Susan Bones had somehow managed to slip into the seat next to her betrothed un-noticed and was now executing a perfect pure blood princess eye roll as she good humouredly berated Cassie.

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While the Freaks were joking around and enjoying themselves embarrassing and winding each other up over a rather scrummy lunch their faculty Head of House was enduring a bit of a hard time in the staff meeting due to her making a surprising announcement. Madame Rolanda Hooch had pinned the dark skinned Astronomy professor with those strange, yellow, feline like, slitted eyes and had become very serious all of a suddden.

"You are of course joking Aurora."

"No Rolanda I'm absolutely _not_ joking, Psycho Freak House will be fielding a quidditch team this year."

"Seriously Aur', Evans-Black and Granger are two of the worst flyers I've seen come through this school in my entire twenty year tenure here ... " She seemed to think about this for a moment. " ... possibly in my whole life. The thought of them wobbling around a quidditch pitch, while it would be terribly amusing for everyone I'm sure, would almost certainly end in disaster."

"And if you would like to look at the team sheet Ro' you'll see that they are both aware of their lack of ability in that area and have planned their roles accordingly."

She handed the parchment copies of the Freaks line-up out to each of the professors, making especially sure to include the sulky looking headmaster and then sat back to watch the ensuing chaos. Albus Dumbledore had been in a foul mood since the students had returned and she was hopng that this fun interlude that she had planned might lift his spirits a little. Not that it wasn't enjoyable watching the 'bearded wanker', as some members of her House called him, stropping around and throwing his toys out of the pram but it made her life considerably easier if he was at least pretending to be happy. Also it was going to be a lot of fun rubbing Sev's nose in it when her House team thoroughly trounced his later on this year as she fully expected them to.

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 **Beaters; Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle**

 **Chasers; Mathilde Black, Juliette Jones, Susan Bones**

 **Keeper; Draco Black**

 **Seeker; Ginevra Black (c)**

 **Reserves; Charlotte Black, Cerys Black**

 **Cheerleaders; Luna Lovegood, Gabrielle Delacour, Hermione Granger, Cassanda Evans-Black**

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There was quite a bit of consternation from the staff at some of the names and postions listed and even one grinning 'Bloody hell' from the flying instructor who, at least, seemed to know what cheerleaders were. The rest, however, seemed rather unimpressed with professor Sprout being the first to give actual voice to their lack of concern.

"I don't see them posing much of threat to even my badgers I'm afraid Aurora."

"You're kidding aren't you Pomona? Crabbe and Goyle are experienced beaters and that Ginny Weasl ... er ... Ginny Black is an absolute monster on a broom and the others are good solid flyers as well. Now that you've lost Diggory as seeker I think this lot could give your team more than a few problems." Rolanda Hooch then gave them all an evil smirk. "Plus have you seen who their third chaser is? I would have thought by now that you'd have all known better than to under-estimate a Bones."

There were a few nervous glances exchanged between the other four House Heads at this worrying piece of inside information before a confused looking Delores Umbridge who was staring at the team sheet waded into the conversation.

"What's a cheerleader? While I will admit that I don't know the sport that well I've never even heard of that position before."

"Oh Delores just wait until their first game, trust me youre going to absolutely _love_ it."

Aurora Sinistra was smiling indulgently and softly patting the awful woman's hand while internally grinning like a loon. If there was anything that would be guaranteed to piss off the horrid blood supremacist toad woman it was the kind of muggle display that she was hoping Cassie and her band of insane little 'cheerleaders' were going to put on during the match. Rolanda's red faced coughing, choking and spluttering on the muffin that she had been in the middle of eating alerted her to the fact she realised that too and _finally_ she heard that familiar dry chuckle as the headmaster flashed her a twinkly eyed smile. Dumbledore was clearly looking forward to the Psycho Freaks first quidditch match as much as she was and his previous grumpy mood seemed to have passed at last. Thank Merlin for that.

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Prisoner ninety three sat in her small, cold and dank cell staring at two ragged and rather damp pages torn from a month old copy of the Daily Prophet that had passed under her door after the guard rounds last night. Sharing little snippets like that and the rare comfort packages that some received between the prisoners was a bit of a tradition in this part of the high security wing but it was one that she had never been included in. On reflection her snarling and spitting at every single overture of friendship and companionship from her fellow inmates may have been a mistake as they now avoided even talking to her. However, someone clearly felt that it was important for her to see this particular piece of news reporting. And they were right. This was the biggest news for her family since her idiot cousin Sirius had escaped. She still wasn't quite sure how the moron had managed that as it had surprised her that he could manage to tie his own shoes without help.

The feeling that her brain had turned to a sludgy sort of mush slowly started to dissapate and clear as she smoothed out the pages and concentrated on the story in front of her rather than the crippling cold or the horrifying dementors.

The picture was what held her attention the most.

The very _informal_ picture of the Black family in the very _formal_ reception room at their ancient residence at Twelve Grimmuald Place that she vaguely remembered visiting with her sisters. Her vision blurred and she felt the rare tears starting to track down her cheeks as she devoured the photograph of her family with her leaking eyes. The prisoner in the ratty, grey overalls was doing something that she hadn't done in more than three decades, even with the tender ministrations of the dementors. Bellatrix Lestrange was crying.

Looking at the girl in the throne at the centre of the group was like looking in a mirror. Well a mirror from twenty five years ago anyway she thought sadly as she reached up to run hard, callused fingers across the parchment dry skin of her face, sighing and lamenting the tragic loss of her formerly celebrated beauty. She did not need a mirror to know how she would look now. Fourteen terrible years of imprisonment in this hell-hole had left her once lustrous raven hair dry, lifeless and brittle and full of more than a decade of dirt, broken and rotting teeth and deep wrinkles in her ghostly pale, waxy skin. Not like that girl in the paper.

With that hair and those familiar cheekbones she was clearly a pretty close relative and with her easy, confident posture and frankly terrifying gaze she was just as clearly the power player in the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Even her Aunt Walburga in her frame on the wall behind the family seemed to be in a state of submission to the girl with the startling green eyes. Bellatrix was rather impressed with this interesting young woman and also very curious as to who she actually was. Her title was the primary heiress and she was described as Sirius' daughter by blood adoption meaning that she could be anyone in the family's illegitimate child as this was the usual reason for such a step to be taken. It was then that she finally managed to focus on the name.

Cassandra Evans-Black.

Cassandra _Evans_ Black.

 _Cassandra Evans._

The 'girl-who-lived'.

What the actual fuck. Cousin Jamie's bastard by that whorish mudblood Evans? The half blood child who had somehow managed to defeat the Dark Lord was now leading the 'Toujours Pur' Noble and Most Ancient House of Black? It was almost inconceivable. Still since that damned blood traitor Sirius was technically in charge she shouldn't really be surprised about it. What did shock her was the fact that her Aunt Walburga Black clearly approved of the whole situation if the pleased expression on her face was any indication and that alone was enough to tell her that she was 'dark'. And to be fair even from the faded, month old picture she could still tell that the girl was very intense and very creepy. Definitely Black family material then.

The text that went with the picture was annoyingly torn but from the very small fragments that remained it appeared that the girl who was basically her new Head of House was as much feared as she was revered and as a Tri-Wizard champion at the tender age of fourteen she was clearly not lacking in talent. Power both magical and financial was at her scarlet painted fingertips and this Cassandra obviously knew how to wield both in order to intimidate and fascinate the pathetic sheep of their world. If she hadn't killed Bella's Lord she suspected that they would have gotten along quite well actually. If they had ever had the chance to meet of course. Which they probably wouldn't.

"Prisoner ninety three. Stand up and put your hands through the slot."

The paper was stashed under her ridiculously thin mattress in an instant as the three guards banged on the door and barked out their orders, interrupting her reading. This really was turning into a busy day for the former Death Eater lieutenant wasn't it. First some highly unexpected light reading and now, what she assumed was to be a surprise cell inspection. Only it wasn't a cell inspection. She was pulled from her cell, pushed roughly against the corridor wall and chained from the ankles through a ring in a wide leather belt up to her her wrist restraints before being draggged upright and led away. One guard took the front leading the procession as another walked backwards next to him, wand trained on their dangerous prisoner, and the third followed on again with his wand ready and aimed at her back.

Nobody in Azkaban, be they guard or inmate, took chances with this prisoner.

The slighty befuddled woman was marched along as quickly as could be managed in her magic restricting manacles and leg shackles and the fact that she didn't exactly get to stretch her legs very often so was a bit out of practice at the whole 'walking' thing. She knew better than to ask questions but unfortunately Bella just couldn't seem to help herself.

"Where are we going?" She croaked out.

"Clean up time. You've got a visitor."

Well that was new. In the entire fourteen years of her incarceration she had received precisely two visits, one from each of her sisters and none within the last decade. She had almost forgotten what other people looked like. Not that that was the big draw here today. The major reason that she was becoming decidedly more chipper was that she was going to be allowed either a bath or a shower and she honestly didn't care which as long as she got to be _clean._ Oh and she was going to be out of reach of the dementors for an hour or two which was a _very_ pleasant thought. Getting to say hi to one of her sisters again was just a bit of a bonus really.

Bellatrix rested her head against the cool tiles and watched the dark brown water as it circled between her feet and out through the metal grate recessed into the cubicle floor. Wet enough at last she held out her hand and one of the two burly female aurors positioned at each side of her and gratefully received the bar of cheap soap that was dropped into her waiting palm. Then the lathering began. Slowly and carefully every strand of hair and every inch of skin, every crack and crevice was soaped and scrubbed and cleaned before Bella stood once more under the warm water to rinse.

Again the water turned a muddy brown and it took nearly two whole minutes of fascinated watching before it started to finally run clear. As she stepped, light headed and woozy from the shower she was not, as she was expecting, handed a towel but rather gently lifted off of her feet and half carried to a waiting sunken tub. A tub filled with delicious scented water the like of which she could barely remember from the days of her former oppulent life. Even with the auror presence it like was heaven for Bella and it did cross her mind during that wonderful fifteen minute soak that she may actually be dead in her cell and this was her after-life.

But no. For the things she had done, the atrocities that she had commmitted and the souls she had snatched in her life she seriously doubted whether a blissful rest in Heaven would be on the cards for her. Bellatrix Lestrange's after-life would no doubt be a lot hotter than this lovely temperature. More painful too she imagined.

The short trip from the baths to the visitor's room was, once more, made in total silence. Which was strange to her now more rationally functioning brain as she couldn't remember a time when she had not been castigated and spat on by guards and aurors whenever she had to be moved anywhere. Come to think of it the whole cleaning episode was a bit odd too as it definitely hadn't happened the last time Cissy visited. Bella was beginning to worry just who and how important her visitor really was.

All she could see when she entered and was chained to the iron ring in the foor was a tall figure in a dark cloak waiting in the shadowed corner of the room and her confusion certainly didn't disappear when that figure walked out into the light and dropped her hood. The stunning young woman with silvery blonde hair lifted her cool blue eyes and looked straight into Bellatrix's own pitch black orbs without the smallest trace of hesitation or fear. The girl's leglimancy probes swept across her occlumency walls in a light and almost loving caress that she hadn't felt the like of for nearly fifteen years and her palm leapt unbidden to her cracked lips.

"Hello Bells."

The choked sob that was expelled from her mouth behind her splayed hand was so violent that it brought the ragged woman instantly to her knees. It was a familiar position for her to be in when faced with her Lord and master. There was certainly some confusion for her over the body that he was currently inhabiting but the fact remained that her Dark Lord Voldemort was back. And he ... or rather _she_ ... had come for her.

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 **Your reviews are oh so** _ **precious**_ **to me but not necessary. I'm certainly not going to hold you guys to ransom over them.**

 **Good? Bad? Leave your thoughts although you can always PM me with ideas, suggestions, comments if you want. Dylan the Rabbit. xx**


	11. Chapter 11

**I had a great review from amerdism asking how Cassie did not see through Fleurdamorte's extremely out of character behaviour and it's a very valid point. Now I do have something coming up in a couple of chapters time that will explain a great deal of this but for the time being you're just going to have to trust me. I haven't forgotten about these issues and they are kind of integral to the story anyway. Things are in motion. Pieces are being moved.**

 **As always if you have ideas, suggestions or want to see something happen then put it in a review or give me a PM. As you have seen in Silent World I am more than happy to adapt it as we go if I find something that you've suggested helpful, useful or just plain amusing.**

 **I still don't own Harry Potter otherwise I'd be writing all day instead of working to pay the bills.**

 **Dylan the Rabbit. xx**

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 **Season of The Witch.**

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 **11\. Welcome to my Nightmare.**

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The Slytherin and Gryffindor classes of their year had been depleted by the defections to the House of the Basilisk and the Scythe that had occured over the previous two years so someone had obviously thought that it would be a good idea for the Freaks to share classes with them. Cassie had no illusions as to who that someone was. Albus meddling bloody Dumbledore. He seemed determined to stir up trouble for her House and putting them in a classroom full of people that hated them seemed llike exactly the kind of thing he would do.

Her prediction of trouble was correct as even before they got in to their first class of the year a few of the more select band of assembled idiots of her and Draco's old House mates were starting on them. Theodore Nott and Ron Weasley were the most unlikely of allies but they seemed to have a common goal today in attempting to rile up the fifth year Psycho Freaks so were spouting their usual hateful nonsense in a vicious twin pronged attack. Their targets, however, were expectng it and responded to the taunts with complete and utter indifference, inspiring Weasley in particular to become red faced and almost apoplectic in his rage.

Until somebody cleared their throat behind him that is.

"Hem hem. Mister Weasley is it not? Perhaps you would do well to remember just _who_ it is that you are insulting here. If it continues I suspect that you will find out the hard way that the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black are not known for taking such things lightly." She held up her hand to forestall the rapidly paling young man's imminent response. "So that you may say that you have been appropriately punished and hopeully avoid a blood feud between my students I shall issue you with a detention this evening and remove ten points from Gryffindor."

"B ... but ... that bi ... "

"Two detentions and twenty points from Gryffindor."

Even Ronald the moron had the sense to shut up at this point as the ugly, pink clad professor raised her eyebrow and smiled her awful simpering smile at him, almost daring him to continue his defiance. With a small nod to Cassie and her cohorts, Delores Umbridge then turned and bustled into the classroom calling the group of rather down cast and despondent students in behind her. They didn't appear to be looking foward to this lesson very much.

Cassie and the fifth years of Psycho Freak House walked into their first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson of the new term not expecting much of their new teacher either, however, what happened was a pleasant surprise for everyone. Admittedly it didn't start off promisingly with the woman making them all sing out 'good morning' to her like they were back in elementary school and her first words weren't exactly encouraging either.

"Put your wands away we shan't be needing them today."

Cassie could practically hear Hermione's silent groans as she anticipated a wasted double period.

"As it is a requirement for your OWLs we will be studying wandless magic and that magic is best taught with practice. Lots and lots of practice. This of course has the advantage of allowing us to review of all of those spells that you should have already learned in this subject."

There was a pause at the general tittering that her slow and peculiarly succinct speech patterns elicited from all of the students who weren't members of the overly wary and paranoid House of Freaks.

"It amuses you the way I speak Mister Weasley?" Ignoring his uncontrolled snort of derision she moved on. "I speak the way I do for a reason. I speak with the utmost care and precision because I am always practising so that I may be ready when I need to cast an incantation."

The Freaks all perked up a bit at that. Not to say that they weren't still sceptical but their interest had definitely been piqued.

"Sloppiness in your incantaions can drop the power and effectiveness of your spells by a goodly proportion."

"Will we be learning to cast wordlessly as well professor?" Hermione just couldn't seem to help herself from asking the question.

"To cast both wandlessly and wordlessly takes an incredible amount of power and an incredible amount of practice, I would be surprised if more than a few people in this entire school can do it and that includes the professors. Of course one of those that can is sat in this very classroom with us today." "Miss Evans-Black would you mind helping me out with a small demonstration?"

Cassie shrugged and rose, making her way to the front of the room and stood in a deceptively relaxed stance, carefully watching as Umbridge circled back around while dropping her wand into her hand. The raven haired heiress, understanding what was required of her, then took out her own yew focus and twirled it dextrously between her fingers before presenting it to the professor handle first with a flourish and a bow. The professor smiled, in what she probably thought was a sweet manner, and placed the powerful feeling, threstral haired wand in plain view on her desk with a nod to her.

They faced off at the front across the width of the classroom and Umbridge shook herself into a loose, squat duelling stance rather reminiscent of professor Flitwick while Cassie simply stood there with her arms crossed and a polite, if bored, expression on her face. Signalling with her finger that she was ready she watched as the teacher launched her first few simple stunning and disarming spells much as Cedric had in the Tournament last year speaking the incantaions and using her hands to cast. She seemed to have a lot more power than her old Hufflepuff friend but her shield stood firm to the onslaught and, as before, Cassie just waited for her to make a mistake. It came soon enough.

" _Relashio!_ "

As the pink toad drew back to release her spell Cassie whipped off a fast tripping jinx before she could really let fly, knocking the older woman flat on her arse and causing the a spell to whizz harmlessly past her shoulder and impact harmlessly on the wall behind her. The raven haired Black heiress tried to hide her little smirk as she offered her hand to the professor which Umbridge accepted with surpisingly good grace before turning to the rest of the class who were busy trying not to laugh at her.

"Now then. What did you notice about Miss Evans-Black in our little duel?"

"Nothing." For a moment the Indian girl thought that she had said the wrong thing until Umbridge put her out of her misery and gave another small, tight smile.

"Exactly Miss Patil, and that is what makes the wordless and wandless caster so very dangerous. Their spells will always be somewhat weaker than if they had used their wand but the advantage they have is that you'll never see them coming."

"Then how do we defend against them professor Umbridge?"

"Who was your professor last year?"

She noticed that there was much shuddering among the fifth years and some muttered 'Moody's.

"Yes, retired Senior Auror 'Mad Eye' Moody ... supposedly." Even Umbridge looked like it had left a slightly bad taste in her mouth that a polyjuiced Death Eater had been teaching them Defence for the last year. "And what was his favourite saying?"

" _Constant Vigilance!_ "

The whole class laughed as they shouted Moody's mantra back at the odd looking teacher which she allowed to continue for a minute or so before getting back to her carefully planned lesson.

"Right then. Quills out and let's get on with it shall we?" The Freaks shared a raised eyebrow apiece between them as she turned to the blackboard to walk them through the theory. "Wandless magic is almost entirely about intent."

On leaving the DADA classroom nearly two fun and instructive hours later it had to be said that most of the students were smiling and laughing, excited to have a competent professor for their OWL year. Cassie was more pensive than excited and her mood was catching the attention of her betrothed and her fellow Freaks. This was in no way what she had been expecting from the 'pink toad' and she was worried that the ugly woman was _far_ more intelligent than she had at first thought. She had under-estimated Fudge's pet and Cassie was kicking herself for doing so.

She huffed and nuzzled into Suzie's shoulder, linking their hands and interlacing their fingers together for their walk to Charms class, brooding a bit on her stupidity. It was only the first day of the school year and they were already going to have to alter their plans to accomodate the clearly more intelligent than anticipated Ministry stooge. Not a disaster but still an avoidable and unwelcome job that was due only to their own complacency and inattention. She glanced at Hermione who was in a similar mood and position to her and guessed that neither of them would be making that mistake again.

Hermione Granger had, over the summer, become her trusted lieutenant. The bushy haired girl had always posessed a frightening intelligence but now under the influence of the Black family she had enhanced that aspect of her personality with a kind of fierce cunning. It made her sister's girlfriend Cassie's go to girl when there was plotting and planning to be done. Suzie and Luna occasionally joined them but her betrothed was more the strict disciplinarian sergeant major type while Luna was, frankly just nuts. Highly intelligent, sometimes rather insightful and always entertaining for sure but still bloody nuts which meant that she usually fell back on the more reliable Hermione most of the time.

She caught the other girl's attention by shooting off a quick and extremely under powered elemental summoning charm on her sleeve, just enough to give it a firm tug, and gave her a meaningful look. Hermione responded with a sharp nod and said a quiet 'tonight' as she and Charli dropped back to fall into step with her.

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Sitting in the boat on her way back from the island prison she knew that the wetness on her face was not only due to the salt spray from the waves crashing against the tall gunwhale. The ferry man, having seen this scene played out many times before, looked away from the heart breaking sight of the beautiful young woman who sat quietly weeping for whatever unfortunate friend or relative she had left sitting up there in their cell. Leaving Bella in Azkaban had been, without any shadow of a doubt, the hardest thing that Fleurdamorte had ever done. It pulled on emotions that she didn't know she posessed and made her feel raw and vulnerable.

But it had to be done.

It was imperative that Bellatrix's family were the ones to 'discover' the supposed truth of the enslavement curse buried in the contract and not her. Fleur Delacour had to be on the sidelines and beyond reproach in this little family drama even if every second that the woman's release was delayed killed her a little bit more inside.

Even after the special treatment that she had arranged poor Bella had looked terrible and sounded worse but in their hour and a half long visit she had at least regained some of that spirit which had so endeared her to the former Dark Lord. The more Fleurdamorte had explained what she was doing and how she needed Bella to act the more focused she had become and she now had the one thing guaranteed to keep her going. Hope. This new outlook seemed to make the emaciated woman grow physically taller and stronger and before the end of their visit her facial muscles had even formed themselves into the ghost of a grin.

Their conversation had touched upon the 'girl-who-lived' for a while and the Dark Lady's calls for caution around her were not lost on the prisoner. Cassandra Evans-Black was clearly someone who Lady Fleurdamorte thought could either be an amusing and entertaining ally or a terrible and dangerous opponent to their plans. It honestly didn't matter to Bellatrix which way it went. Whether she had to befriend her or destroy her it would prove to be an interesting first meeting with her blood adopted cousin and Bella was almost gleeful at the thought.

 _"Oh I can't wait. Lots of fun new cousins to play with and my lovely new Head of House of course. Do you think she'll like the cruciatus My Lady?"_

 _"What did I just get through saying Bella? You need to be careful around her, the girl is a magical powerhouse with a very short fuse. Especially where her family is concerned. This is our one advantage, your relation to her and I don't want you blowing that before we even start trying to recruit her."_

Fleurdamorte had sighed as Bella just looked even more excited at the thought. She really was more than a few rice crispies short of a bowl and they were definitely going to have to work on that situation once the woman was back at Grimmuald Place. As fun as Bella could be it really wouldn't do to have continue in her obvious madness when the 'curse' of the contract was lifted. With a tight hug and a kiss to the thankfully now clean hair she had left at the end of her alotted visiting time thinking that she was now going to have to make the time to research lunacy suppressing potions as well.

Upon finally leaving the island prison the future Dark Lady had made good use of her host's Veela gifts to compel the dazed guards to treat her lieutenant with a modicum of respect and humanity in regards to her meals, cleanliness needs and even a little light exercise. The compulsion wouldn't last more than a few weeks at most but she was hoping that with some subtle manouvering of the Black family it would be more than enough. Bella, being Bella, had been positively giddy at the idea of more of those wonderful baths and at the chance to gain even a little of her former strength before her revered Lord/Lady got her out of this black pit of insanity and back where she belonged. At Fleurdamorte's side.

The girl herself was wracked with unfamiliar feelings of guilt for not taking Bellatrix with her immediately but rather than ruin all of her hard work on a reckless impulse she had done what needed to be done and left empty handed. This time. She was, however, now more determined than ever to push the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black into discovering her carefully woven 'cursed' contracts as quickly as possible. Fleurdamorte would not leave her brave warrior here for a single moment longer than was absolutely necessary.

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The red headed Psycho Freak prefect watched her lover whirling around the basement training room in tight circles before exploding out of her relentless spinning into a zig-zag pattern through the forest of dummies with concern. She was blasting with the yew wand and whipping the scythe around one handed, spearing, slicing and decapitating the targets in a concentrated flurry of death and destruction. The demonstration of raw magical power, speed and precision was an awesome thing to watch. Scary and more than a bit worrying in it's intensity but truly awesome. Still at least she hadn't set herself on fire yet.

Cassie was angry and she was expressing that anger in the only way she knew how. Unfortunately her less than subtle ways to burn off those feelings were quite loud and they attracted the attention of her inquisitive Housemates in the tower within minutes. The other Freaks had gathered in the common room do some homework before dinner when they heard the crashes and blasts of some powerful magic drifting up the stairs. Attracted by the strange noises they had all trooped tentatively down to the lower basement only to be quietly directed to sit on the raised wooden benches by a distracted Prefect Bones and watch the show.

Most of the new intake who had never seen Cassie really let loose were awestruck and not a little frghtened at her display of speed, ferocity and phenominal power but not Philip Trainor. Philip was amazed alright but not at the insane levels of physical violence. As far as he could see the scary Miss Cassie wasn't just doing some pretty awesome practice duelling. She was _dancing_.

Of course she was dancing with a gopping great scythe in her hands which seemed a bit on the dangerous side but still, it was a rather beautiful dance and totally unlike anything that he had ever seen before. It was incredibly entrancing the way that the blade traced it's streaks of blurred silver and black around the space and in between the targets. But dangerous. As was attested to by all the headless practice dummies littering the floor.

Little Philip didn't miss much. He recognised the anger that Miss Cassie was exhibiting and he saw the concern on the faces of his older Housemates. Making a decision he rose from his seat and headed for the Dark princess. An arm shot out to prevent him as neighbour hissed out in a whisper.

"Philip no!"

He calmy disentangled himself from her and smiled up at his mentor.

"It's alright Miss Hermione, she won't hurt me."

And he truly believed that to be the case. She was not a bad person and anyway he had a plan to cheer her up. As he moved out into the middle of the training room floor and watched her pull out of a manouvre that would have surely disembowelled him if it had continued Philip grinned at her and lifted himself up onto his toes. With a grace rarely seen in one so young the first year pushed his arms in front of his chest, bent one knee up and began to spin on the spot, moving from plie to pirouette in a simple but beautiful progression. Cassie looked down at the little first year with the enormous grin on his face and gave her first real smile of the day.

The Black Witch had been in a foul and furious mood since her History of Magic class after lunch where she had finally finished reading the book on soul magic that Croaker had lent her from the Department of Mysteries library. The last few chapters were all about the theory and practice of horcrux or 'soul jar' creation and forced soul bonds and it had opened up some avenues of thought that had driven her absolutely wild.

Voldemort had almost certainly created a horcux which was how his spirit had still been wandering around and in place to possess the idiot professor Quirrel in her first year. Probably more than one. Actually definitely more than one since she knew of at least two and the Dark Tosser still wasn't gone. She had guessed that the diary Ginny had was one from the way it reacted when it was destroyed and it explained to some extent why whatever it was behind her scar had exploded when the basilisk fang had scraped along her scar in the Chamber of Secrets.

That un-holy _bastard_ had put one of his horcuxes into her head.

The thought had both sickened and angered her. An anger which definitely did not abate when she figured out that the headmaster and so called leader of the light Albus fucking Dumbledore had probably known all along what was behind her scar. The old man had fought the Dark Lord to a standstill on more than one occasion and would definitely know about horcruxes so how could he _not_ sense what was sitting in her skull. A lot of his previous and continued actions in regard to her had now begun to make a lot more sense to Cassie. The abandonment, the subtly condoned school wide ostracism and bullying, the anger he displayed when she finally made a few friends and his devious attempts to separate her from them. He was setting her up.

Whether as a sacrifice or a future 'Dark Lady' for him to defeat she honestly wasn't sure and frankly she didn't care. For the physical and emotional pain that he had caused her in the past as well as whatever he was planning to do to her in the future she was going to rip his fucking lungs out and wear them as a fucking hat.

Of course what Voldemort had put into her head and the consequences that had brought from certain intefering old wankers didn't even compare to what she suspected that the noseless git had done to the Delacour girl. Soul bonds, as it turned out, were not only harmless and happy events like Gabby and Cerys', they could also be used for much more nefarious purposes. Like inhabiting the body and mind of another while keeping your own essence of 'self' hidden away in the deep recesses of their mind. She didn't know _how_ he had done it, her book had only mentioned 'other dark rituals', but she was pretty sure that in that graveyard at the other end of the trophy port-key, he had managed it anyway.

This upset her almost as much Dumbledork trying to ruin her life. Gabrielle Delacour was _family_ which meant that by extension so was Fleur and forgiveness in relation to those who hurt her family was not something that she made a habit of. Light Lords and Dark Lords were both plotting and schemeing around her and forcing Cassie to waste her valuable time, that could be much better spent getting naked with her betrothed, having to make plans to deal with them. They might be older and more powerful wizards than her (maybe) but she was damn sure going to find a way to fucking kill them both.

It was these thoughts that she was battling along with the multiple training dummies when the small form of Philip had appeared before her making her pull out of a sweep with her scythe that would have cut him clean in half. Then the unafraid first year had started to dance for her and she was lifted almost instantly from her black, murderous mood by the spinning, pirouetting muggle born boy.

The delighted Cassie waited politely for the sweet young man to finish his graceful manouvres before applauding him enthusiastically and wrapping him up in a tight hug. The two of them grinned hugely at each other before she turned and opened her arms wide, wandlessly using her elemental power to 'push' the debris of her rage fuelled practice out to the sides of the room and creating some space. Then she seemed to do some weird movements with her hands, appearing to grab at the very air itself, forcing it to her will and beckonned him over to her. The raven haired older girl grabbed him lightly around the waist and winked quickly at Philip before she threw him into the slowly whirling atmospheric vortex that she had just created.

The stunned eleven year old boy barely had time to be shocked before the updraft caught him and lifted him six feet into the air holding him there. Oh my flippin' God. He was flying. No brooms, no planes, no artificial means at all. Philip Trainor was truly flying. He gazed in wonder at the smirking Cassie and noticed that she was holding her arms out and executing her own pirouette, encouraging him. Oh my God yes! He was _so_ doing this.

The dance of the swan queen had never been more brilliantly or more strangely performed than when the first year wizard danced it six feet in the air on the currents of Cassie's ephemeral vortex. It was spell binding for performer and watchers alike and there was something akin to disappointment for all of them when the Dark princess finally reduced the air flow and brought him gently back to the floor a mere ten minutes later.

Philip shot straight into her arms and buried his head into her stomach screaming his joy into her midriff and shouting out.

"That was flippin' _brilliant_. Do it again, do it again.!"

Cassie's snorts and huffs of laughter followed his giggly, bouncing form around the basement as she created several more pockets of air and waved the other young Freaks over to have a go. She was nearly knocked over in the rush of bodies wanting to try out this fun looking new game as they came charging down from the seating area, whooping and yelling.

Susan wrapped up her beautiful betrothed from behind in loose hug and relished in the feeling of the now much more relaxed girl leaning back into her body, placing her small hands over the red head's and sighing gently.

"I can't wait till we have kids. I'm going to enjoy watching them wrap you around their little fingers and you letting them get away with absolute murder you big softie."

Cassie's only response was to turn in her arms and pull her lover's face down for a soft, sweet kiss before putting her head on the other girl's shoulder and tightening the hug. It still amazed Susan how fast her girlfriend could swing from one extreme to the other, from psychotically violent to playfully sweet in the blink of an eye. This may have put a lot of people off but Susan Bones was made of sterner stuff than that and she loved her strange 'Black Witch' quirks and all. Especially when she suddenly got all cuddly like this.

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It had taken nearly three days before Fleurdamorte had managed to engineer an opportunity to steer the elder generation of the Black sisters towards the tapestry at the end of the main hall in Twelve Grimmuald Place while the Lord and Lady of the house were out. She led them on a seemingly aimless wander to her target, gave them both her best confused foreign bimbo impersonation stopping suddenly just before she was about to hit the wall and looking around in totally fake surprise.

"Oh! Where are we now, how did we get here ... ooh ... What is this?"

As she had hoped the chuckling and awwing Narcissa and Andromeda fell straight into her delicately laid trap of cuteness.

"It's the Black family tapestry dear. If you look closely you can see all the names of all the members of our House, past and present."

At this direction her finger followed up from the newest additions at the bottom of it, pausing to smile and stroke the name of Nymphadora Tonks and on up to her mother and aunts where she stopped, cocked her head to one side and gave a confused pout.

"Bellatrix Black? This line means that you are sisters yes? But I have not heard of her before."

"You probably have heard of her Fleur dear but more than likely under her married name of Lestrange."

"Mon Dieu." Fleurdamorte thought that she must be getting rather good at the shocked face by now what with all the practice she was getting lately. "But that woman was a Death Eater no? And a monster?"

"She wasn't always like that."

The sad tone in Andromeda's voice was evident as she broke the embarrassed silence that had descended at the mention of her older sister and the insane woman's past criminal mis-deeds.

"I am sorry."

"It's not your fault dear."

"No." I spoke without thinking and I have made you sad, that was not my intention. No matter what she had done I know how bad I would feel if someone were to say such a thing about my sister so I apologize without reservation."

Her girlfriend's mother was so overcome at Fleur's words that she pulled the sweet and beautiful blonde in for a hug which was soon enhanced by Narcissa wrapping the pair of them up in her own arms. They stayed like that for a while, just basking in each other's comfort and warmth until the Veela whispered out to ask if they had any pictures of the three of them when they were younger. Both of the Black sisters were smiling at her with undisguised pleasure at this and almost dragged her off with them.

Retiring to Narcissa's bedroom the three of them arranged themselves comfortably on the four poster with one of her leather bound and highly prized photo albums laid on the bed between them. There was a dull thump that made them all bounce a little on the mattress as it was joined by two of Andromeda's own thick albums. Drinks were requested from a hovering Kreacher who seemed rather interested himself and they dove into the picture books.

"Wotcha ladies what's going on here then?" Dora Tonks crashed into the bedroom an hour later took one look at the three relaxed women snuggled together, giggling and winked at her mother's sister. "Are you trying to shag my bird Aunt Cissy?"

"Nymphadora Tonks!"

"It's alright maman you know that I _love_ it when my darling Dora gets all possessive like this." She shrugged nonchalantly. "Also I have wings when I transform so the Veela form is quite avian do you not think?"

The shocked faces of the three other women in the room at her riposte caught her attention. Andromeda was wide eyed, red faced and if Fleurdamorte was any judge (which she still wasn't really) almost in tears.

"Quoi?"

Andromeda was clearly shaken and her 'it's nothing' didn't fool her for an instant although she couldn't imagine what she had done to cause this until Dora looked at her in awe, saying that it was probably because Fleur had called her 'maman'. As heart warming as this was, however, she needed to get this Bellatrix train back on the tracks so pointed to a picture of her grinning former lieutenant in a tartan scarf with an arm draped over the shoulders of her equally ridiculously dressed sisters.

"Where was this one taken?"

"Oh Merlin's hairy arse crack Andi do you remember that day? When she sneaked us out of Hogwarts and took us to that muggle pop concert in Edinburgh. What was the group called again? Boy City Reelers?"

"It was the Bay City Rollers ... as you _well_ remember sister dear."

"That was it. We thought they were the best thing since self cleaning robes."

"Oh like you don't remember Cissy you were _obsessed_ with those boys. I, on the other hand, was a true fan since it was all about the music for me."

Fleur and Tonks snorted and giggled before collapsing on each other and the bed in hysterical laughter as the two older women started singing _'And we sang Shang a lang as we ran with the gang'_ and waving their imaginary scarves in the air.

"Bella was always doing things like that for us. She was so bloody cool back then."

Their expressions turned quickly melancholic again.

"Of course that all changed when she got married to that bastard Lestrange. It was hard to take when I found out after the war that I was on her death list."

Oh what a golden opportunity Andromeda had just presented her with. She gave the three women her best confused foreigner expression.

"But how would just getting married change her so radically?"

"I ... it ... it wouldn't."

"It ... _shouldn't_."

The rising excitement in the room was starting to become palpable now as the older Black women glanced at each other as they began to realise that things with their sister's behaviour may not be quite as clear cut as they at first seemed. And now her girlfriend ... _the Auror_... was starting to become interested. Perfect. Fleurdamorte's internal grin was growing by the second as her adopted family tumbled out of the room and headed for the sitting room to talk through their suspicions with Walburga Black. Oh this was just getting better and better. If she could have picked someone for Cissy and Andi to get involved in this she could not have chosen anyone better than the portrait of the old Black matriarch who made Cassie's attitude to the protection and welfare of her family seem positively relaxed. She was sure that an investigation would be under way by the end of the day.

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 **Your reviews are oh so** _ **precious**_ **to me but not necessary. I'm certainly not going to hold you guys to ransom over them.**

 **Good? Bad? Leave your thoughts although you can always PM me with ideas, suggestions, comments if you want. Dylan the Rabbit. xx**


	12. Chapter 12

**Okay so massive apologies for being so late with this. All the usual stuff that happens to me happened at once and life became rather ... stressful but I'm back and enthused so let's get going again shall we.**

 **Now then. The time is finally here for all of you Bellatrix fans to rejoice, along with me if I'm being honest, as it's time to introduce the mental monster of the House of Black to the strange and silent world of her sort of cousin/niece. Who is also something of a mental monster. Should be fun.**

 **As always if you have ideas, suggestions or want to see something happen then put it in a review or give me a PM. As you have seen in Silent World I am more than happy to adapt it as we go if I find something that you've suggested helpful, useful or just plain amusing.**

 **I still don't own Harry Potter otherwise I'd be writing all day instead of working to pay the bills.**

 **Dylan the Rabbit. xx**

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 **Season of The Witch.**

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 **12\. September Song.**

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The first week of the new school year flew by at a break-neck pace for the members of Hogwarts fifth House in a flurry of new lessons and new discoveries and, of course, mountains of homework. Some of which actually got done in between all the sugar fuelled silliness of the youngsters and the hot and frequent, but necessarily clandestine, sexual activity of the older girls.

To the consternation of many of the Freaks, remembering their treatment in previous semesters, the start to their current year had been rather pleasant. All of the members of the black robed House had been smiled at and spoken to by more of their peers and professors, with a few obvious exceptions, than they had thought possible. Even the headmaster was acknowledging them (however grudgingly) and it was making the older girls distinctly nervous. Like Cassie, they had seen far too much bigotry and hatred directed at them in this place for them to feel entirely comfortable with this sudden turn around.

In truth most of the staff and students were suffering from a combination of being impressed by the skill and protective nature of the Black heiress and terrified of her insane, blood thirsty temper. The gruesome details of her French adventure had been widely reported and commented upon by all of the major Wizarding media outlets, leaving any who had been in doubt before, now more than convinced of her 'dark grey' nature. Especially when if came to the safety and security of her family. As a certain Ms Skeeter had written in the Daily Prophet (and others) Cassandra was a 'proper' Lady of the House of Black, sweet and generous when she wanted to be, harsh and terrifyingly dangerous when she needed to be. Rita was the first to draw a direct relation between Cassie and her 'grandmother' Walburga but she wouldn't be the last by a long way.

Since her brutal destruction of the remaining Death Eaters many in the noble, ancient and pureblood families who made up the Wizengamot members found themselves thinking along similar lines. All of those who had been around in Orion's long tenure as Lord Black were well aware that his wife had been a great deal more than a decent piece of arm candy and breeding machine. Much like Cassie was now, Walburga had been the true power behind the throne. It was true that the 'girl-who-lived' didn't appear to have anywhere near the level of sneaky and subtle that her esteemed grandmother had possessed but she clearly ruled Sirius and the House of Black just as effectively. All of which Cassie was aware of thanks to that same sneaky and subtle mind calculating and interpolating the thoughts of her fellow aristocrats and Dora's amusement of the fact that 'granny loved to gossip'.

Her funny, clumsy cousin had fallen over herself (probably literally) to write to Cassie all about what had occured at Grimmauld Place in the past week. The excitement of voicing the thoughts and concerns of the Black ladies over Bellatrix and the fact that she had wanted to show off the brilliance of her Veela girlfriend had prompted the young Auror to put quill to parchment nearly every day. She could not, however, have expected the furious, violent reaction that these letters would provoke in the primary heiress of her House. The storms of fire and lightning that it caused to rain down upon the cellar of Psycho Freak tower soon gave way to frowning concentration as Cassie and Hermione planned their response to Voldemort's first move. Or rather the first move that they were _aware_ of him making.

They realised rather quickly that _everything_ that had happened to Fleur or that she had done since the end of the Tri-Wizard Tournament would have to be re-examined with the new perspective of the girl having Voldie's consciousness living in her brain. It made for a mentally exhausting second weekend back at school for the strategic council which they had now included Draco in for his invaluable insights on his former allies' motives and subsequent actions. Their male cousin had been rigorously drilled in Black family history from an early age and he had come up with a few surprising revelations about the dirty deeds that their House had committed in the past. It seemed that Cassie was far from the first Head of the Black's to engage in underhanded tactics, up to and including blackmail and murder, to secure the security and increase the power of their family.

Although they were expecting it to come sooner or later the letter from her father, delivered via Kreacher's safe and sneaky hands was still a bit more unexpectedly fast in arriving. The smug little elf had barely been able to keep the grin from his face as he had passed it to his formidable mistress and her redheaded consort on the evening of their second Tuesday back.

Sirius wasn't much of a one for letters, preferring the immediacy of their charmed communication mirrors, although after an incident at the end of last year when he had seen rather more of his daughter and her betrothed than he had expected, he had at least learned to give a warning buzz before opening the connection. So it was that when he chose to write it was usually to relay something extremely important or official. Cassie, having been warned by a quick mirrored message from Amelia, had an idea that this particular letter was probably both.

.

 _ **To The Lady Cassandra, primary heiress to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.**_

 _ **Hey little Cass,**_

 _ **Not quite knowing how to start this letter I hope that you will forgive your old dad for his Gryffindor tendancies and not mind if I just jump straight into the reasons that I am sending it. It would seem that two of the members of our great House have discovered something very strange and very worrying over the course of the last week. Our cousins Narcissa and Andromeda came to me with some concerns over the behaviour of their sister and requested that I, as named Head of House, undertake an investigation into the circumstances surrounding her marriage.**_

 _ **Now I don't know how much you know about Bellatrix but let me just say that they put her in Azkaban for a very good reason. However, if, as your aunts and grandmother seem to be suggesting, some form of foul play has been used to endanger her, then as the Head of House it is my duty to look into the matter. No matter how distasteful I find that particular family member to be. And indeed, upon further investigation, it appears that my cousin Bellatrix Black's betrothal and marriage documents have been deliberately and maliciously intefered with.**_

 _ **I have tasked your step mother with bringing this to the attention of the appropriate authorities and, although they have both had to recuse themselves from the official investigation, both she and Nymphie are convinced that there will be repercussions that will affect our family. If, as seems likely now, it is discovered that her behaviour was caused by a dark curse implanted by the Lestranges then she will be returning to this House as a free woman and restored as a full member.**_

 _ **I'm going to recommend that you research her (not that you wouldn't anyway) and get to know the person that will probably become a permanent new fixture in our lives. I value your advice and anything you can find will be helpful as I'm feeling a bit out of my depth with all of this. You are smart enough to know this love but I still urge you to exercise caution in these dealings and to think before you act out of your wholly justified protective nature with some of that awesome violence that you're so good at. Which I love by the way.**_

 _ **Yours as always**_

 _ **Lord Sirius Orion Black, Head of the Noble and etc.**_

 _ **P.S. As my primary heiress you are entitled to attend the trial and I have the feeling that I'll definitely be needing your support there so be ready to travel at short notice. Soon.**_

 _ **Padfoot xx.**_

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Had Cassie not had the warning from Tonks and Amelia to tell her what had been going on she may have been taken a bit off guard by this strange, disjointed missive from her father. But it was not the only letter that she had received this morning and she now impatiently tore into the envelope bearing the barely ledgible scrawl of Nymphadora's latest excited ramblings.

Cousin Nym had gone into a great more detail, running over, once more, the things that had been occurring at Grimmauld Place this last week and the Black heiress would have been incredibly grateful for it had she not seen the hand of Voldemort behind these events. The girl was so hopelessly and obviously in love with the Veela that, Auror or not, she wouldn't have either noticed or been bothered by the fact that she was clearly being used and manipulated into carrying out everything that her 'girlfriend' wanted.

All of this infomation meant only one thing to Cassie and the older Psycho Freaks. That Bellatrix Lestrange, the Dark Lord's most feared and most trusted lieutenant was looking likely to be freed and it only gave further confirmation to them that he had indeed performed the foulest of soul magics on poor Gabby's big sister. Fleur/Voldemort was slowly and subtly moving ahead with whatever plans he/she had while carefully avoiding the appearance of doing so. Frankly, if they weren't so revolted by the details of his inhabitation of the French girl they would have been mightily impressed. It was a masterful demonstration in sexual and political manouvering.

With the barest movement of her head Cassie summoned Hermione to take the seat next to her and, when her lieutenant was seated, pushed the pieces of parchment in front of her tapping them lightly.

 **Gather the House. We need to talk.**

Hermione nodded to her, signalling her agreement and handed the letters over to the patiently waiting Susan Bones.

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Mid-way through breakfast on Thursday morning Cassie headed straight to the top table with a formal, sealed letter bearing the raven and skull crest clutched tightly in her hand. It was the expected summons from her family to request the attendance of all House Black members to prepare for a special session of the Wizengamot the next day. Well not so much request as demand. Cassie, Charli, Ginny, Cerys, Mathilde and Draco were all told, in no un-certain terms, that their presence at the floo in the Hogwart's main entrance hall was mandatory. Even Susan, with her status as both Lady Amelia Black's niece and Cassie's betrothed, was not exempt.

The DMLE's investigation into the circumstances surrounding Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black's betrothal contracts and subsequent actions was complete and an emergency sitting of the Wizarding parliament had been called to hear the findings. Two days was all it had taken once the Lord Black had presented the offending parchmentwork to the authorities and demanded action for this violation of his House. The DMLE, Auror department and indeed the entire Ministry of Magic had immediately dropped all other business in order to concentrate their efforts on righting this terrible mis-carriage of justice.

This helpful attitde among the Ministry was due in part to Cassie's popularity among the public and in part to her reputation for extreme violence against those who she deemed had sinned against her family. None of them wanted to be thought of as being part of that second group since decapitation seemed to be one of the more merciful endings that could be expected for being on the wrong end of the 'Black Witch's legendarily bad temper. Cornelius Fudge was not alone in still being plagued with nightmares from his viewing of the young woman's terrifying destruction of all those poor (?) Death Eaters in the pensieve at the Department of Mysteries. It had been almost two months since he had seen it and he had yet to get a decent night's sleep.

So he had put the entire weight of Magical Britain behind this endeavour hoping that a swift resolution would prevent him getting onto Cassandra Evans-Black's personal shit list. Not that anybody needed much persuasion. They were all as nervous as he was of how she would react if they dragged their heels, even slightly, over the investigation.

Of course this needlessly fast, frenzied and somewhat panicked activity amused the young woman who had actually set it all in motion immensely. She watched on in stoic serenity as the headless chickens of the Ministry ran around, desperate to see 'justice' done all the while dancing an internal jig of delight at the insane pace at which her plans were being realised. True enough, it was a little insulting that they were more scared of a fifteen year old witch than they had been of her old Dark Lord Voldemort persona but she wasn't going to complain too much if it resulted in Bella being freed faster.

The Chief Warlock and headmaster of Hogwarts Albus Dumbledore wasn't quite so pleased of course. In one capacity he was going to have to preside over the whole mes of the probable release of the most insanely dangerous Death Eater's ever to raise a wand against 'his' light and in the other he was required to let several of his least favourite students attend this farce. These facts were causing him to grind his teeth in anger and frutration at the impotence that he felt at being ensnared in this horrible situation. Unfortunately there was nothing that he could do to prevent it. This was the family business of a Noble and Most Ancient House and he could not interfere in any way without risking the sanction of the entire Wizengamot.

The only upside that Albus could see was that the Evans brat looked just as pissed off about this as he was. He still made sure that she saw his hidden glare at her as he smiled falsely behind his half moon glasses while signing off on the Blacks' permission to leave after lunch.

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Later that evening Katie Bell and Daphne Greengrass nodded at each other across the Psycho Freak table while taking a brief break from scanning the hall for any threats from those who might take advantage of the absence of the more scary black robed students. Hermione's brooding demeanour along with the looming presence of Vince and Greg was definitely putting off some of the less stupid would be threats but they certainly wouldn't be letting their guard down any time soon.

Cassie had tasked them with assisting in the protection of her severely depleted school House, since all of the Black family members had been summoned to Twelve Grimmauld Place to await the outcome of the trial later on tomorrow. Only the Black Witch herself would be attending the actual trial in the company of her older relatives but the other girls (and Draco) had been drafted in to give her some support following the fairly inevitable outcome. They would all be there to oversee the return to the family of their most notorious cousin and assist in cleaning up the blood if Cassie lost her shit with Fleur/Voldemort and Bellatrix.

And everyone in the know had to admit that this particular outcome was a distinct possibility given the protective and volatile nature of the 'Freak in Chief'. Most of them were hoping that Susan Bones could keep her girlfriend's temper in check with only the furious Cerys actively encouraging the use of 'extreme and wholly justifiable' violence against the monster who had defiled her mate's sister. Much to his lasting regret it had fallen to Draco to try and stop this encouragement by whatever means necessary even if it meant that they had to but him new robes. After all they all knew that the only surefire way to keep the vicious little Welsh girl amused and distracted was to allow her raven familiar free reign to assault the blonde haired teenager with all of his customary glee.

Those left behind at the school had given strict instructions that, were this to be necessary, they would be supplied with a thorough photographic record of the event. Hermione and the others may have forgiven him for his behaviour in the previous years but they couldn't really help themselves from giggling at his misfortune. It was just too funny when they saw the huffing pureblood attempting to look all haughty and aristocratic while covered in feathers and raven shit.

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Friday's emergency Wizengamot session had kicked off with the traditional calling of the roll which had taken rather more time than normal since, for the first time in decades, every single sitting member had chosen to made an appearance. The packed galleries where the noble families not eligible (or not _yet_ eligible) to take a seat were gathered also attested to the fact that this was going to be a most unusual proceeding. And in the centre of this sea of interested on-lookers, lounging amongst her sisters and aunts was the devil herself. Cassandra Evans-Black. The hushed chattering that pervaded both the voting floor and the gallery seemed to have it's focus soley and securely on her and her alone.

Silence descended as the, until recently, most notorious member of the most notorious House in the history of Wizarding Britain was led into the chamber and carefully placed in the defendant's chair. And chained there. Despite, or perhaps because of, their fear of the House of Black no self respecting Auror was going to let the insane and exciteable prisoner sit through this hearing unrestrained.

Investigators, prosecuters, defence attorneys and judges filed into their appointed positions and as the buzz of reawakened chatter faded again things finally got started.

It was time.

Albus Dumbledore sat in the Chief Warlock's throne high above the proceedings and watched as things slipped inexorably out of his control. He had rather been taken by surprise by this bold move that Tommy (or Tammy as he had begun to privately refer to the former Dark Lord) had made to get his/her lieutenant out of Azkaban.

Frankly he was surprised that it had even got this far. But then he supposed that with the beautiful and charismatic 'girl-who-lived' leading them the House of Black had become extremely popular lately which was leading to everyone trying to curry favour with them. Of course, add to that the fact that she had proved herself more than prepared to slaughter her enemies and had actually wiped out at least three Noble Houses in the last few months and the co-operation of the Wizengamot was virtually guaranteed.

Nobody wanted to make an un-necessary enemy of the fearsome young woman that their European neighbours were now nervously referring to as the Black Butcher.

As for the hearing itself, since 'Tammy' Riddle was behind it, it held no surprises for him. The cursed contracts had obviously been faked but such was the popularity of both the startlingly beautiful and tragic young veela and the House of Black currently that those who should have known better were completely fooled. The old man in his throne sighed as the fabricated evidence piled up and resigned himself to losing this particular battle. Not the war though. That had not even begun yet.

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Lord Carrick Fawley was blessed with something that many of his colleagues in the Wizengamot were not. Common sense. It was mainly this besides his natural cunning and intelligece it made him the perfect political operator, able to navigate these murky waters with confidence and ease. One didn't get to be, or stay, as the Head of one the traditionally dark 'sacred twenty eight' families for as long as he had without an overwhelming abundance of these qualities. So it was that he managed to curb his desire to join in the general fawning that was going on as the great majority of Lords, Ladies and House Heads rose to praise the House of Black in general and Bellatrix and Lady Cassandra in particular.

He had been watching the famous Black heiress and had seen nothing but contempt for their ridiculous public declarations from the stony faced teenager beneath the instantly recogniseable red hooded cloak. Her eye rolling annoyance with them had only been matched by her total lack of emotion as she had witnessed her most dangerous aunt being exonnerated of all her crimes on the flimsy and obviously false 'evidence' that had been gathered and presented today.

Nobody with memories of the last war or with half a brain could truly have believed in the 'innocence' of Bellatrix Lestrange. Or Bellatrix Black as she was now since her bewildered ex-husband and his brother had been kissed and thrown through the veil for their crimes against her a short hour previously. Yet here they all were rabidly sucking up to the young woman who was the de-facto leader of that darkest of all the Noble and Most Ancient families. They were all making morons of themselves. Worse still, they were un-observant morons.

The 'Black Witch' had spent the entirety of the hearing with a ferociously hard, venemous look in those startling green eyes that would have curdled milk. It was very clear to him that not only was she aware of the charade being played out on this very public stage but that she disapproved of it intensely. Actually disapproval was probably a rather pale expression of her emotions at the moment. Lady Cassandra looked livid with fury and yet somehow pleased beyond measure all at the same time. As if she were witnessing an event that, while infuriating and upsetting in the short term, would eventually lead to that horrifying, savage butchery of her enemies that she was so famous for.

Lord Fawley was the wisest man in the chamber that day as he held his peace and, when he managed to briefly catch her eye, twitched his lip in the tiniest of smiles. The wink and devious smirk that he received in reply from the gorgeous but terrifying girl made his heart swell with pride at his presence of mind. An alliance between the Houses of Fawley and Black would be most welcome and, as a consequence, bring an immeasurable amount of wealth and power to him. With the votes and influence that they would wield, the two of them together could get literally any damned law they wanted passed. Perhaps it was time to bring his grand-daughter home from the colonies and offer her to the House of Black as a bride to one of it's unattached members.

As she disappeared out of the gallery the crafty old Lord continued to think of how he could extend the hand of, well not friendship, but certainly co-operation and mutual benefit to her when silence fell across the chamber like a blanket. His eyes lit up as he saw the 'Black Witch' moving out to retrieve her errant aunt, recognising the display of power for what it was and sitting forward eagerly to watch the show.

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Lady Cassandra Evans-Black strode confidently across the floor of the Wizengamot chamber, flanked by Cissy and Andi, dropping her light, blood red cloak and outer robe as she came and revealing tight, leather trousers, tall heeled boots and short top that ended just above her navel. A wide black belt held together with a bright silver buckle in the shape of the skull and raven Black family crest supported a holster on each thigh containing a pale wand and decidedly nasty looking dagger. Deliberately dressed for war, or at least for a well prepared assasination, she truly was a magnificent sight to behold.

Although she had eagerly read and devoured every article in every paper and magazine that her suddenly and inexplicably thoughtful guards had provided her over the last ten days or so Bellatrix found that nothing quite prepared you for seeing her in the flesh. Speaking of which there was a lot of that flesh on display today and it was now that the dark witch noticed all the subtelties that could not be conveyed in a mere photograph, no matter how magical it was. Judging by the many oohs and aahs and camera flashbulbs going off in the chamber she was clearly not the only one who thought this.

It was the scars that really did it for her. She imagined that most people would get hung up on her tattoos and, fair enough, they were both beautiful and badass but for Bella the scars showed you who Cassandra Evans-Black really was. Someone who was a warrior for their cause. Someone who would place themselves in danger for her loved ones. Someone who wasn't afraid to take a beating. Someone who could take a poisoned arrow to the shoulder and still function well enough to slaughter everything in her path ...

Someone who was now staring straight at Bella with those strange, creepy eyes the colour and intensity of the killing curse.

The chains securing her to the defendant's chair that still hadn't been removed yet, despite her having been declared innocent of all charges for the last hour and a half, literally exploded into black smoke at the merest wave of her hand as her powerful cousin strode towards her. As the stunned and emaciated woman was lifted to her unsteady feet by her younger sisters Bella finally understood what her Lord ... Lady Fleurdamorte had been trying to tell her for the last week or so.

Morgana's venereal vagina, this girl was truly fucking terrifying.

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Back at Grimmauld Place a pair of excited House elves flitted about distributing delicate flutes filled with champagne (and pumpkin juice for the younger and more pregnant) amongst the gathered wizards and witches of the House of Black. Glasses were held aloft with varying degrees of enthusiasm as the shout rang out.

"To Bellatrix."

Cassandra, Charlotte, Ginevra, Cerys and Mathilde, the hard eyed black sisters and the stony faced Susan Bones all remained silent at the exhuberantly shouted toast by an overly excited Narcissa. It had been a long time since Bella had seen her sisters all giddy like this and it had unfortunately distracted her from the many threats to her safety in the room. Of course the main one was right in front of her.

The bespectacled and outrageously dressed girl in the centre of the formal drawing room looked like a Dark Queen as she sat in a plushly upholstered chair amidst her court of grim looking sisters and cousins. The fact that she had an eight foot python coiled around her shoulders just added to the whole 'goddess of the underworld' vibe that she had going on currently and gave even the feared and fearsome Bellatrix Lestrange ... whoops ... Bellatrix _Black_ a reason to hesitate nervously.

Perhaps her Dark Lady Fleurdamorte had been right about not antagonising the ridiculously scary teenager. Taking advantage of this brief moment of mental clarity and being all too aware that she was currently in no fit state to take on the hard eyed young woman sporting the big fucking knife, Bella made her move.

She approached the throne like chair containing her dangerous cousin and dropped to one knee, bending her head.

"Lady Cassandra this child of your House asks for your blessing and protection." Bella's voice cracked and grated through a decade and a half of not being used. "I understand that my actions have brought our family into dis-repute and I humbly plead for my Head of House's understanding and forgiveness."

Everyone in the room who had known the former Death Eater was utterly shocked by her actions, giving further creedence to the 'curse' story. This was not the behaviour that they had expected from Bellatrix within the walls of the Black family's fortress like home. Mental stability and coherent reasoning were not what they had come to expect from the mad blood purist and reasoning didn't come much more coherent than not pissing off the wildly dangerous Cassandra Evans-Black. Even Amelia was impressed as the former Death Eater knelt in silence, simply waiting.

The silent minutes dragged on as Cassie gazed at Sirius' eldest living cousin and former Death Eater lieutenant with cool disinterest in those killing curse green eyes. She may have already decided, for the sake of appearances, to take the woman in but she certainly wasn't going to make it easy for her. It was only when she saw the recently released prisoner start to shake with the effort of staying on her knees that she reached out gently placed one delicate hand on Bellatrix's shaggy, brittle black hair. The same hand slid down in a gentle caress through the hair and on down her bicep and forearm to finish lightly gripping the bony fingers of the kneeling woman.

At the tugging insistance of her de facto House Head Bella rose and was guided to the seat to the right of Cassandra's in an extremely dazed state. Lady Fleurdamorte had suggested that it might go this way but she had not really believed it.

In the corner of the room the Veela Dark Lady was nervously watching this touching little family drama playing out before her and had inexplicably started to tear up at the young heiress' seemingly tender treatment of Bellatrix. It was so heart warming indeed that she had even begun to believe it possible that the terrifying green eyed killer on the throne was completely sincere in her actions. Until she caught that little twitch of the lips that she made, un-noticed by all but her that is. Well, there was that and the fact that Gabrielle's fiesty little mate, Cerys was all but growling at her every time she wandered into the girl's eyeline.

Fleurdamorte's heart stopped briefly as she noticed Cassie notice Cerys' behaviour and give her little sister a gentle reprimand in sign language. Luckily for her it was in English, which she had spent a good few weeks getting to grips with so as to be prepared for precisely this type of situation.

 **Now is not the time Cerys bach.**

The question was ... when would be the time ... and would she survive it.

She had no illusions that she would be able to beat Cassandra Evans-Black in any kind of a stand up fight at the moment. The tattooed younger girl's actions both at Delacour Villa and in their few sparring sessions over the summer had left her in absolutely no doubt of that. It was the entire reason for springing Bella from prison after all, but her most useful and talented minion was going to be far below fighting strength for quite some time yet. If Cassie had put together the clues about about who she actually was this fast, and she wouldn't put it past the girl, then her whole plan might just crumble before it even got started.

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There was a great deal of chatter and laughter as the House of the Basilisk and the Scythe who had not travelled back to London for the trial wound their way through the castle from dinner in the great hall back to their tower. For the first two days Katie, Daphne and Hermione were always within sight and reach of their younger charges, displaying some of that fierce protectiveness that their raven haired friend was so famous for. After a while, when everyone had kept a respectful (and scared) distance, in the end the older girls had decided that Cassie's paranoia had been mostly unfounded and they had relaxed a little. They still went every where together and escorted the younger members to and from class but their vigilance had definitely been taken down a notch or three.

This turned out to have been a mistake.

The ambush had been well laid. As it should have been. After all, the instigators had been planning it since their return to Hogwarts nearly two weeks ago and had only been awaiting the opportunity to spring it. In a virtually unheard of period of co-operation for the common goal of hitting the hated Black Witch where it would hurt her the most, Ronald Weasley, Theodore Nott and as many like minded young men as they could persuade to their cause attacked from the shadows at either end of a short, dark corridor. It would have been rather beautiful, Slytherin and Gryffindor working together for a jointly beneficial cause, had that cause not been to attack and injure as many of the Psycho Freaks as was possible.

Spell fire lit up the corridor and only the quick reactions of the frequently bullied Luna Lovegood saved her classmates from being taken out wholesale in the first volley. Her production of the incredibly difficult domed protego, designed for the protection of a small group against attacks from different directions was fast and effective. Although it did falter somewhat under the barrage that was currently being laid down and required the help of a shocked Hermione, Katie _and_ Daphne to reinforce and sustain it. Then it became a super shield.

However, no protego could hold forever against the kind of reckless hatred that was fuelling their attackers and, knowing what needed to be done, Greg Goyle and Vince Crabbe nodded to each other before stepping from the safety of it's perimeter. Each of the impressively muscled boys took off in opposite directions on a pair of jinking and surprisingly fast runs at the two separate groups of assailants. Nobody was more surprised than the ambushers and it put them off their aim slightly so that the two large quidditch beaters were in amongst them before they could properly grasp what was happening.

Wands gave way to fists as the magical assault turned into two almost entirely separate vicious physical brawls at either end of the short corridor. Greg was quickly laying about his former house mates with glee and having a great deal of success despite their vastly superior numbers, his bloodied fists and boots connecting with them with some very satisfying crunches. Vince, however, was finding it much harder going, the Gryffindors seemingly much more willing to engage with him physically rather than avoid the incoming hits like their Slytherin temporary comrades at the other end of the corridor. They had him down on the ground and the kicks and punches were raining down upon him with only Ron firing curses at the group of huddled Freaks to keep them under their fast waning shield and unable to help.

It would, no doubt, have gone very badly for them all had they not been rescued by the one person that they had never expected as she came barelling around the corner, red faced and breathless at that particular moment. Striding into the path of nasty purplish cutting hex and merely swatting it away the dumpy figure exercised her impressive vocal talents.

"ENOUGH! I will have order."

For such a short, squat woman the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had a powerful set of lungs on her and her enormous shout shocked the combatants into stillness, utterly silent apart from a few groans of pain and pants of exertion. Without a thought for her own safety Delores stepped into the scorched and ruined passageway and began to separate the the attackers from the attacked. She lined the wrong-doers up against one wall and held them there with a simple but effective 'stay' before turning to assess the damage caused to the black robed young people.

Having satisfied herself that none of them were too badly injured and sent off a patronus (in the form of a toad of course) the group of milling students were soon joined by the Deputy Headmistress and professors Sinistra and Snape. The latter glared at the assembled idiots and with little more than a sneering, disappointed look had the foolish young men trooping off towards the dungeons in a quietly shameful line, heads hung low. They winced as they heard the deceptively soft, hissing voice of their Head of House behind them.

"Delores, Minerva, Aurora, I shall meet you in the headmaster's office before breakfast tomorrow to discuss an appropriate punshment for the discraceful behaviour of these very stupid young men." He raked his black eyed gaze across the miscreants, causing more than a few of them to shudder at the implied threat. "Some of whom I am ... _displeased_... to say are members of my own House."

Receiving nods of agreement from his colleagues and a brief, low 'As shall I' from McGonagall, Severus stalked off after his errant charges with the habitual scowl and dramatic billowing of his black robes.

"Merlin he's sexy when he does that."

There was a strangled cough from Minerva and sounds of retching from certain of the now highly amused members of the Psycho Freaks which brought to the attention of professor Sinistra that she had actually given voice to her inner thoughts. It was bad enough that her little Freaks had heard it but so much worse that McGonagall and the bloody toad were present as well. She was mortified.

"I ... I just said that out loud didn't I?"

"Yes dear but we won't hold it against you will we Delores?"

The Defence professor and ministry stooge blinked rapidly at being included in what was clearly 'girl talk' by the two other women. Not having ever had anything in the way of female friends, due to her disposition, this kind of thing had never happened to her before and she was a touch uncertain of how to handle the situation. Some sort of response was probably required other than the strange throat clearing noise that she usually made when uncomfortable but she wasn't too clear on what that should be exactly. Deciding that anything was preferable to staring at them like an idiot Madame Umbridge forced her facial muscles into a very strange and seldom used non sickly smile.

"Of course we won't Minerva." She turned to the dark skinned astronomy professor. "Besides Potions Master Snape would be quite the catch Aurora." Getting into the role more she actually gave a wink. "He is rather ... hem, hem ... dreamy ... is he not?"

Hermione and her house-mates gazed on in wonder as her teachers teased and blushed and giggled with each other like they were the school girls. It was something that she had never thought to see. Probably had hoped never to see was more like it she supposed. It was all quite distressing and yet when she replayed the events of the last hour or so she couldn't help but being rather impressed as well. The undeniable fact was that Dolores Umbridge had saved them from taking a considerable beating tonight and, despite their gratitude being somewhat muted by their surprise, the black robed House were now in her debt.

As their bloodied male heroes returned to be tenderly embraced and fussed over by the small group of grateful Freaks before being carefully escorted to the infirmary a sense of immense pride welled up in the Black Witch's bushy haired lieutenant. Yes they had been caught unawares but even without the scarier and more violent section of their House being present they had put up a decent defense and, more importantly, protected the younger students admirably. Hermione just hoped that Cassie wouldn't give them all too much grief for leaving their hand to hand weapons in the tower this evening, although she was aware that, given what had happened, this was a ridiculously forlorn hope.

She also hoped that Cassie wouldn't do anything too rash when she learned about what had occurred here this evening but seeing the twinkling look of triumph in professor Umbridge's piggy little eyes she doubted that the Black heiress would even get the chance. This was the toad's big opportunity to push forward with increasing the Ministry of Magic's agenda at the school, no doubt counting on the headmaster's going easy on Nott and Weasley in spite of the obvious deadly intent in their attack. Some of the spells being thrown around by those two and their moronic crew could well have proved decidedly lethal if they had got through and yet she knew that they would escape any serious punishment. If he ran true to form and this was the case, Dumbledore was going to hand Umbridge and the Ministry the keys to Hogwarts and they wouldn't have to so much as lift a finger to get them.

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 **Your reviews are oh so** _ **precious**_ **to me but not necessary. I'm certainly not going to hold you guys to ransom over them.**

 **Good? Bad? Leave your thoughts although you can always PM me with ideas, suggestions, comments if you want. Dylan the Rabbit. xx**


	13. Chapter 13

**These next three chapters will be very dialogue heavy which I know is not something that you expect from me but I honestly didn't have much choice in the matter. These conversations needed to happen and will be, by definition, rather intense and rather long. I have been practicing this kind of thing in my two challenge fics 'A Tale of Two Lillies' and 'Of Twins and Harry Potter' but if it comes off as a a bit too much like a sceenplay then I apologise.**

 **At least a new writing schedule means that you can look forward to weekly updates of this story and at least one other every Sunday/Monday from now on. I rarely make promises of this sort so this is big news and I hope you appreciate the effort and time commiment that it takes to make it happen.**

 **As always if you have ideas, suggestions or want to see something happen then put it in a review or give me a PM. As you have seen in Silent World I am more than happy to adapt it as we go if I find something that you've suggested helpful, useful or just plain amusing.**

 **I still don't own Harry Potter otherwise I'd be writing all day instead of working to pay the bills.**

 **Dylan the Rabbit. xx**

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 **Season of The Witch.**

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 **13\. Out in the Open (Part One).**

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Bellatrix's coming out party at Grimmauld Place was brought to a sudden halt when a grim looking Aurora Sinistra came through the floo wearing her anger and frustration on her face clearly for all to see. There was also no small amount of fear at the anticipated violent reaction that her news would bring but she overcame this with a deep breath and a squaring of her shoulders. The dark skinned professor offered no apologies or explanations as she hurried over to Cassie, managing to only glance once or twice suspiciously at Bellatrix before deciding to just blurt out her message.

"Two hours ago the House was attacked while they were walking back to the tower after dinner."

At the scary girl's look that managed to mix shocked concern with her more habitual cold, hard fury at anyone attempting to hurt her people she hurriedly tried to continue but was brought up short as Susan who, sensing the imminent danger, pulled them up and forwards. The plush chairs which she, Susan and Bellatrix had so recently been sitting upon burst into flames as Cassie let out her anger and concern in a typically Cassie manner. Flames licked up the arms of the 'Black Witch' as she did a rather impressive impersonation of a pissed off phoenix at 'full chat'.

"Everyone's fine, although Messers Goyle and Crabbe took a bit of a beating physically." Despite the seriousness of the situation Aurora suddenly smirked. "I don't think they mind the bruises too much though as they're getting a _lot_ of attention from the ladies."

Bella saw her temperamental cousin's mood shift, lip twitching minutely as she rolled her eyes at this statement from her professor, although it wasn't to last too long. She watched in awe as the amazingly talented little elementalist extinguished her flaming hands with a quick burst of cold before turning to the rest of the sitting room's occupants. The now frosty and totally unharmed extremities went through a series of short, sharp and annoyed looking motions. Bellatrix didn't need Lady Fleurdamorte's translation services to get the gist of what the scary girl was 'saying' as her fickle temper ran from burning heat to an icy chill that seemed to drop the temperature in the room by at least ten degrees.

 **Everyone out. This is House business.**

The confused looks that the adults in the room were giving her along with their failure to do as they were told and just bloody leave was threatening to snap the few remaining threads that held Cassie's prodigious temper in check. A firm but gentle hand on her arm and a pointed, if understanding look from her beloved Susan conveyed the unspoken thought that she needed to be clearer on _which_ House she was talking about.

 **Not House Black business, Psycho Freak business.**

This stark message from the royally pissed off heiress finally had the desired effect and Amelia began shepherding the older members of the family from the room, most of whom were giving the smouldering furniture a wary look as they left. Aurora was about to leave herself and close the door behind her to give them some privacy when she felt a hand on her arm pulling her back in. She jumped at the sharp slam and turned in time to see a grim faced Ginevra pull her wand to cast a silencing charm on the still vibrating wood to prevent any eaves-droppers from listening in.

"Not you professor, you're with us."

Not even the the suppressed rage and gravel evident in Susan's voice could overcome Aurora Sinistra's feeling of joy and euphoria at being included. The group of young Blacks all turned to her and she fidgeted uncomfortably under their belligerent gaze.

"Tell us everything that happened from start to finish."

There was no denying them in this, even had she wanted to do so, and so the Astronomy professor and Head of the Psycho Freaks laid it all out for them. Every detail that she had gleaned and cajoled from the participants in the ambush was delivered, digested and discussed over and over for the next hour and a half before Cassie ended the argument.

 **I need Suzie here, the rest of you get back to Hogwarts and show the flag and if anyone so much as looks at you funny, hex them into next week. Make sure that you take some extra knives from the stash here, I want our firsties armed, trained and carrying by the time I get back on Sunday. Everyone is to wear their full duelling gear to breakfast in the morning and weapons will be out on display.**

"But what about the uniform restrictions Cassie?"

They all looked a bit shocked at the normally quiet and reserved Mathilde who had, they thought rather bravely, brought up the point with the dangerous, simmering cauldron of fury that was their eldest sister/cousin. Their nervousness for her was thankfully unfounded as Cassie just looked grimly at the now blushing girl and twisted her ruby lips into one her nastier smiles.

 _ **Fuck**_ **the school uniform. I want a statement made to these morons loud and fucking clear.** _ **Nobody**_ **messes with the Freaks and gets away with it. Now let's get to work.**

As the Freaks ran to their tasks Cassie turned to their faculty head.

 **And send Hermione to me.**

"I'm not sure that I can arrange that Cass ... " The dark skinned professor tailed off at the intense, uncompromising look that her most pants wettingly frightening student gave her.

 **I don't care how you do it just get it done.**

Aurora desperately wanted to chastise her for the 'tone' that Cassie was taking with her professor but, wisely deciding that today probably wasn't the day to push her, simply inclined her head in agreement.

"Right away Lady Cassandra."

When the others had returned to the sitting room and flooed out of Grimmauld Place and back to the school Susan seated the two of them on one of the sofas that was left realtively unscathed and asked.

"So what now love?"

 **First we wait for 'Mione.**

Her lover's face held no trace of emotion.

"And then?"

 **Then we have a little 'chat' with the Dark Bitch.**

"I thought that we were going to wait till the Winter break to do that."

 **We can't afford to wait. I'd rather have it out here and now than have to deal with a sneak attack against the family later. You know that snake faced fuck wouldn't come at us directly and I want to ensure the safety of ma' and pa' before we head back to take care of ... other things.**

Susan couldn't deny the logic of that statement. With the pureblood attack on their House things were moving fast now and they needed to ensure that they weren't fighting on two fronts at once. Dealing with the Voldemort situation while they were here, on site as it were, and had the opportunity to do so was the sensible approach. The calm, collected and perfectly sound reasoning was a touch unexpected from her volatile girlfriend as she knew, better than most, how completely Cassie was ruled by her emotions but she wasn't complaining. Besides once they _had_ dealt with Fleur and the Dark Lord hitch-hiker in her brain then Susan had no doubt whatsoever that the 'Black Witch' would turn her full attention to those who had been dumb enough to go after her people.

Of course the 'other things' that Cassie was referring to very probably meant the torture and bloody murder of anyone who was in any way involved in tonight's attack. The thought caused her to smile grimly and she couldn't bring herself to disagree with her lover's less than morally upstanding methods on this occasion. Bastards deserved every second of the unrelenting agony that her Dark Angel was surely going to visit upon them for their sins.

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Everyone in the great hall jumped and all conversation ceased abruptly as the huge double doors banged open and the Black sisters stalked into the cavernous room. There was a brief sigh of relief from both staff and students as they realised that Cassandra Evans-Black wasn't with them but it was rather short lived when they caught sight of the attire being sported by the grim looking girls. And Draco of course. It was an unfamiliar sight within the confines of the old school. Sure there had been bodyguards at Hogwarts before, when the children of the rich and powerful had been threatened, but even they hadn't looked as hard faced and dangerous as this heavily armed group. Their open black duelling robes did reveal a uniform which, while it wasn't exactly a Hogwarts one, did resemble it slightly. Other than the fact that the girls were wearing trousers and the fact that it was all black that is.

Then there were the _accessories_ that each of them were sporting. Their belts weren't as wide or as ornate as Cassie's but they did all feature the House crest buckle and the twin holsters containing wand on one side and their own personal choice of sharp, pointy weapon on the other. Though differing wildly in style and size they all had one thing in common and that was how unbelievably nasty they looked. And considering just whose family these 'guards' were related to nobody had even the slightest doubt that they would all be more than proficient in their use of them.

This little display, although not an unexpected reaction on the part of the 'girl-who-lived-to-frustrate-and-annoy-him', was still unwelcome and unsettling for the headmaster. Evans was showing him that she would not allow actons against her ridiculous bloody 'Fifth House' to go unanswered and also that she had clearly done some research into into what she was legally allowed to get away with in doing so. Not that _that_ had ever seemed to bother the bad tempered little dyke bitch before.

That was the worst thing about it he thought. The unbelievably exasperating fact was that none of this was strictly against the rules. Rules that allowed for, what amounted to, a private army of 'student protectors' to be stationed in his school so long as they were currently enrolled here. Rules that had, somewhat frustratingly, been put in place to benefit the purebloods rather than some jumped up parody of a Noble and Most Ancient House like the mongrel Blacks had recently become.

Albus Dumbledore watched the display of power and clear threat with mixed emotions. On one hand It was truly impressive that these mere teenagers could manage to look so impressive and intimidating, giving him hope for the future of the Auror division at least. On the other hand the Black family was clothed for war and they left nobody in any doubt that the smallest of future infractions against their House would be the spark to ignite the tension into a massive conflagration. A conflict that he really couldn't afford right now since the horrid little toad Umbridge had taken ... well ... _umbridge_ to his decision to not expel Nott, Weasley and their cohorts for their actions the previous night. Of all the professors to have caught them in the act why did it have to be _her_. Anyone else (apart from McGonagall or Sinistra maybe) could have been smoothed or reasoned with or even obliviated if necessary, but not the bloody toad.

He had already discovered, to his cost, that the ugly little woman was unusually resistant to memory charms and remarkably fast on the draw with her wand. Not that it bothered him, being in possession of the elder wand and all, but still it was irksome in the extreme that his every move and indiscretion was being reported straight back to her real boss. The Ministry were breathing down his neck at the moment, what with their new inside information on the dropping academic standards and his lax punishments for those he thought above such banalities. He suspected that one more slip up and he would find himself on the wrong end of a motion of censure and possible suspension. A slip up like an all out war erupting between the Freaks and the proper, upstanding wizards of Hogwarts (in his opinion at least) would make this this 'possibility' almost definite. Add to that the insidious influence of the wealthy, powerful and popular House of Black and his forced retirement would be inevitable and unstoppable.

This could not be allowed to happen. He _needed_ to be here so that he could mould the next generation of young witches and wizards and prepare them for their places in his New Magical Britain. After his victory over Fleurdamorte or 'The Black Witch' (or possibly both) they would have to have been prepared to accept their roles in his society, pureblood wizards at the top, everyone or everything else at the bottom. There could be no more mistakes. He had to exercise his inner Slytherin to ensure his survival here.

Of course the real 'fun' would begin when Cassandra Evans-Black returned to school after completing whatever dastardly, dangerous and most likely illegal deed she was no doubt undertaking in London. He retired to his office, glaring briefly at the Psycho Freak table and filled his thoughts with plotting and planning how exactly he was going to stop the damned girl from wreaking her bloody vengence in his school. He didn't give a tinker's cuss what she did elsewhere, he just didn't want his position as headmaster made any more precarious by the murderous little bitch doing it _here_. Oh and he wanted to protect the poor young men involved ... blah, blah, blah.

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Fleurdamorte woke on Saturday morning with an uneasy and inexplicable sense of nervousness, in spite of being encased in the comforting and protective embrace of her girlfriend. It amazed her how quickly she had become accustomed to being the 'little spoon' and embarassed her at how much she enjoyed it. Not that she would have admitted that to anyone, even Tonks (actually _especially_ Tonks), since Dark Ladies did not generally get to be so on a reputation of being 'cuddly'. Still even waking in her favourite position did not dispell that feeling of nerves and she took it as an omen for the day to come. So after a quiet breakfast with the family, at which Cassie and Susan were conspicuously absent, she was not at all surprised when a stern but sad looking Kreacher waylaid her on her way to the library.

"The clumsy Missy Nymph's Flower girl is to accompany Kreacher to the Head's Study."

The old elf would be sorry to see the blonde, young, French woman go, especially as she had been behind the plan to get his beloved Miss Bella back to her rightful place here, but he knew better than to disobey his Mistress. His Mistress who was clearly very, _very_ angry. So angry in fact that he could feel through their bond just how badly she wanted to hurt the Flower girl. Yes he would be sad but if the Mistress wanted to filet someone then, as far as he was concerned, it was better the twin souled trickster than him. Kreacher would possibly even shed a tear or two for her as he cleaned up her innards from the carpet after the Mistress had finished with her.

Fleurdamorte's thoughts as they slowly approached the ebony door at the end of the hall where not quite so dark as her short, bug eyed companion's. She was more expecting to have to do some fast talking to diastract Lord Black from the fact that she had illegally doctored a magical contract (or four) to get a criminally insane woman released from Azkaban. There had been some brief consideration, since Bellatrix's coming home party that Cassandra would confront her but she had quickly dismissed this scenario. She believed that the girl had only recently become aware of her 'situation' and would need more time to prepare a plan on how to deal with it properly. Unfortunately she was mistaken in this belief and, even if she wasn't, was seriously under-estimating the 'Gryffindor's forward' tendancies of the raven haired heiress in dealing with a perceived, possible threat.

As she entered, Fleudamorte was surprised to see that it was Cassandra Evans-Black that was sat behind the desk in the Head of House study rather than the expected Sirius and Amelia.

The Black heiress was seated behind the Head of House's desk and flanked by Bones and Granger, playing with a silver letter opener and carving something (probably highly inappropriate) into her father's blotter with it's point while smiling, apparently none the wiser to her presence. Of course Fleurdamorte knew that the girl was far from unaware that she was there. The appearance of total nonchalance and dis-interest was the key to it all and the 'Black Witch' had that down to an absolute tee. It was a power play with which the Dark Lady was all too familiar having played these games herself many times in the past but she was quite impressed that Cassandra did it so well. Well she would have been impressed if she wasn't quite so bloody nervous that is.

She waited patiently while the de-facto Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black played out her little intimidation scene and took in the faces of her companions to keep her mind off of just how much trouble she might be in here today. Both Bones and Granger had tell-tale dark bags under their eyes that spoke volumes of the late night that they had spent discussing how this meeting would play out. Interestingly all that she could glean from the bushy haired brunette was a sense of intense curiosity about her while the redhead was simply chock full of barely restrained fury. Well at least it was clear who was going to be playing the roles of good cop and bad cop. What wasn't quite so clear is what kind of cop the 'Black Butcher' was going to be.

And then, with the smallest of gestures from the green eyed monster, it began. Surprisingly though it was the mudblood who started it and her opening statement immediately put Fleurdamorte off kilter.

"So Voldemort, how exactly did you pull off the whole body swap thing then?"

Oh shit.

So they knew. This situation had just gone from potentially dangerous to actively disastrous with a side helping of possibly lethal.

She closed her eyes for a moment, giving herself the opportunity to collect her thoughts and figure an appropriate response to the bald and un-subtle question. These girls looked hungry. For both answers and revenge. Well, since they had started out down the ful disclosure path she was just going to have to brazen it out and attempt to match them. If they were amused enough by her semi truthfull, but still evasive, answers then she just might get out of this meeting in one piece. Fleurdamorte drew a deep breath and started the fight for her life.

"Oh you know, a potion here, a ritual there, it was all fairly simple really."

"Really? We looked for ages and couldn't find a single ritual thalt could have done done what you achieved. It also begs the question why, when given the choice of a powerful, muscular young wizard a foreign, half breed girl you chose _that_ body to inhabit."

"I have not been idle in my time as a shade." Probably best not to mention that her previous host had been a new born baby whose mother Wormtail had then murdered. "I saw how the World reacted to you Lady Cassandra, how they lauded and followed you, praising you as much for your looks and youth as for your feats of magic. You were quite brilliant by the way, I was particularly impressed with how you let loose on Mister Krum in the duels with such tempestuous fury."

She let her smooth, polished voice, still with the trace of a French accent, carry the words with a sincerity that was fairly accurate as she spoke.

"And then a funny thing happened. Far from causing your public denunciation and arrest for using such dark and deadly spells in a 'friendly' tournament, I witnessed the press and people of Britain shrug their shoulders and let it pass. Why?, I asked myself, how does such a thing a thing happen in a country famed for it's distaste of Dark magic?"

"A distaste that _you_ engendered with your damned 'blood war'."

Bones was getting tetchy and wasn't even attempting to hide her anger and hatred. The other two though, well, even through their cynical, stoical masks, all they showed was a deepening interest. It was a good start. Fleurdamorte needed to keep it going so acknowledging her guilt in the matter of the war she nodded thoughtfully at the redhead's comment before continuing.

"Even so. I watched a country so inextricably tied to the 'Light' fall to their knees before a witch who, if not fully Dark, was at least on the shady side of neutral and why? Because she was a thing of beauty. A graceful, powerful, magical ballerina, dancing with death and mesmerising all who saw her. A young woman of exquisite taste and beauty who could merely hold out her hand and whisper her wishes to the wind to see them done. It made an impression."

Fleurdamorte smiled and shrugged, holding the vivid, green eyes of the the silent girl at the desk in a flirtatious gaze, guessing that a litle light flirtation couldn't hurt at this point. The warning growl from Bones, whose face was now as red as her hair, belied that thought so she stopped, sobered, gave the redhead another concilatory nod and faced the cold, green eyes again. And the only one in the room whose opinion on her really mattered at the end of the day.

"So I chose the pretty witch, hoping to gain some of that popularity for myself. It seemed so much simpler than all of that blood purity nonsense. Besides, even back then in my original body I was only a halfblood." This was a candour that she was not really comfortable with but it appeared to be having the desired effect on her audience who looked stunned at her openness. "As for how I did it. I simply asked." She flicked a piece of invisible lint from her sleeve. "You would be amazed what you can get away with if you're polite about it."

Wanting to divert the course of the conversation away from the ritual she tried a potentially dangerous tactic.

"Speaking of polite, I must admit to being somewhat surprised that we are even having this nice little 'chat' at all."

 **Why?**

Had she not been studying with Dora she would not have caught the response from the silent, creepy girl but not wanting to tip her hand, she patiently waited for Granger to translate it for her.

"Well I simply assumed that once you had discovered my secret you would just kill me out of hand." She fixed Cassie with an interested but casual look as if she were resigned to this fate. She wasn't but that was no reason to let her know it. " ... since you have something of a reputation for violence against those that have wronged you ... and it doesn't get much more wrong than attempting to murder you and actually murdering your mother."

And finally it was out there. The elephant in the room.

Voldemort and the 'girl-who-lived' engaged in a brief staring match with each other before an apocalyptically angry Susan Bones jumped headlong into the conversation once more.

"Trust me _Voldemort_ we discussed doing _precisely_ that." Susan's brown eyes burned into Fleurdamorte's own icy blues. "I was all for slitting your throat in your sleep but Cass and 'Mione, against my advice, decided that they wanted to hear you out first."

Now this was definitely someone who had grown up in the presence and influence of one of the more capable and formidable of Voldemort's enemies. Amelia Bones (or Black now) had left her own unique stamp on the girl that was for sure. Since that stamp looked to be about to descend on her at this particular juncture the budding Dark Lady changed tack again. Even revealing some of the very private details of her forcing the soul bond with the Delacour girl was preferable to where this was heading.

"Actually I prefer Fleurdamorte these days."

"I'm sure you do, I prefer _bitch_."

Not quite the intended result so she braced herself for an incoming hex, berating herself for being too subtle in the face of Miss Bones' obvious anger.

"Why Fleurdamorte?"

Ah, Merlin bless you Miss Granger.

"It is a simple mixture of our names, bound together as are our souls and the poetic nature of 'Flower of Death' appealed to me. It is also rather pretty no?"

"What do you mean your souls are 'bound together'?"

Bingo.

"Part of the bonding ritual that I used results in a kind of symbiosis occuring between the invader." Fleurdamorte pointed at her brain. "And the host." She now gestured to the rest of her. "It took me quite some time to understand what was happening as Miss Delacour has proved to be a very canny young woman so I have not been able to stop our ... synchronisation. We have, essentially, become one new person and at this point our two consciousnesses are so closely entwined that it would be impossible to separate them." She held up a hand to forestall the inevitable incoming Bones response. "Of course you could still attempt it but I believe all you would get is a mess on your lovely carpet."

 _~Hmmm. Tea?~_

 _~That would be lovely, thank-you.~_

It took Fleurdamorte a few seconds and the sight of the devious smirks on the three younger girls faces to realise what she had just done. She had just replied in parsel to the Black Witch. Damn it, were there _any_ secrets that she would be able to keep today?

.

The refreshment break gave everyone a chance to calm down some and take a few much needed deep breaths. After the tea things were cleared away by a Kreacher, who was more than a little surprised to see the Flower girl still in one piece, Cassie started things off again.

 _~What about dear Aunt Bellatrix? I'm assuming you have plans that involve her.~_

She decided to reply in English so that the other witches in the room could understand her and, hopefully, would be somewhat impressed by the fact that she wanted to include them in their continuing conversation.

"Actually not really." Fleur smiled at the sceptical face of her teenaged inquisitor. "I thought it prudent that when I was revealed that I should have my most brilliant fighter by my side. Not that she's quite combat ready at the moment of course."

 **I asked her if she had any plans for Bellatrix.**

"Oh, so no plans for Bellatrix yet then. But you _do_ have plans, I'm guessing."

The tenacious Susan Bones clearly wasn't going to let this slide.

"Frankly I wasn't expecting you to have figured things out this quickly and it has rather made things more tricky for me but yes, I do have plans."

"And they are?"

"Do you really need to know? Can I not simply say that I mean no harm to you personally or your family and we leave it at that?"

 _~I don't think so no.~_

"I could add that I have no intention of going around murdering mud ... muggleborns again, although Bella was awfully good at it and I wonder what precisely I'm going to do with her otherwise. But that is a problem for me to solve no?"

She realised her mistake almost the instant that the words had left her lips and saw that fierce flash of anger in Granger's, up until now, calm and curious chocolate coloured eyes. The bushy haired girl's wand whipped up with incredible speed and the incantation for her hex was already leaving her lips at Fleurdamorte's somewhat thoughtless and throw-away comment. She cursed herself for her stupidity and braced herself once more to receive the punishment which she richly deserved for her inattention and idiocy.

When it didn't strike she looked up to see Cassie's hand was on her lieutenant's arm and Hermione had stopped short, shaking in barely restrained fury.

 **'Mione stop.**

"But he ... she killed your mother how can you ... "

 **I know what she did.**

"Then how can you trust her?"

 **Oh I don't trust her in the least but there's something else going on here and I want to find out what it is.**

Hermione nodded her agreement, took a deep, shaky breath and lowered her wand. She did not, however, put it away. While not quite trusting that the muggleborn witch wouldn't attack her, Fleurdamorte found herself rather approving of the girl's caution in not dis-arming in front of someone who had not yet proved themselves a friend. It was then that she noticed that Bones also had her wand out, although less obviously than the other girl, and was tensed ready to strike. It appeared that young Cassandra had chosen her lieutenants well. They were fiercely loyal to her and they took no chances. She definitely approved.

As for the girl herself, there was a deadly, cold look in her eyes that had the uncanny ability to make you feel as if your blood was freezing in your veins. Fleurdamorte shivered as she thought that, considering what she had done to Greyback at the Villa, this feat was probably not beyond the talented young young witch. The seconds seemed to drag by for an eternity before Cassie finally released her from that chilling glare and surprised her by continuing on a moment later as if nothing had happened.

 **So let's talk about the white bearded old wanker and how much he knows.**

Still believing she couldn't sign, a now calmer Susan Bones translated the words, signalling Cassandra's opening of a new subject. Thank Morgana, a slightly safer topic than the death of her mudblood mother. Hopefully.

.

An hour later Fleurdamorte had to make a conscious effort not to stumble as she headed through the newly opened study door and out into the hallway.

She really thought the girl was going to kill her at one point. Mentioning her mother and reminding her that Lord Voldemort had killed her probably wasn't the smartest move she could have made. It had been a very stupid thing to do and she had had to work very hard to calm things down to the point where an uneasy truce had been called. It helped that they both had issues with Dumbledore and his 'Greater Good' which led the group to some much needed common ground and away from any discussion of her past actions.

Fleurdamorte had no doubt that it _was_ going to be discussed at some point but the girls seemed to have bigger fish to fry at the moment. Which was when it all finally clicked into place for her. She had been wondering all morning, well in between the desperate attempts to stave off her imminent death that is, why Cassie had chosen to confront her so soon. And now she understood. They didn't want to fight a war on two fronts and so had put their outstanding issues with her on hold until they had dealt with, what they perceived, as the greater threat. Slightly insulting but even she would admit that Albus was currently a more dangerous opponent for them than she would have been.

It was actually something of a piece of good news for her. The first of the day. Now she could work on becoming useful to the Black Witch in her assault upon Albus 'almighty' Dumbledore, having a literal lifetime of experience in fighting the wily old wizard. She would have to work hard to overcome the whole 'murdered her family' thing and get the girl to trust her enough but with the help of Tonks and the elder Black sisters she might just be able to do it. As she had previously stated to Bella, working _with_ Cassandra Evans-Black was a much less terrifying prospect than having her as an enemy. At least she'd have _some_ chance of surviving if they brought down the white bearded old wanker, as she had so amusingly called him, together.

"Oh _Fleur_ would you be a dear and send in Bellatrix on your way out."

The chuckling of Bones and Granger and the strange huffing laughter of the strange scary, green eyed monster disguised as a school girl followed her as she actually did trip over her own feet at this final 'request'. Oh bloody fucking hell. Those three conniving little minxes were going to tear poor Bella to pieces if they put her through what she had just experienced. Fleurdamorte had to warn her old follower. And fast.

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 **Your reviews are oh so** _ **precious**_ **to me but not necessary. I'm certainly not going to hold you guys to ransom over them.**

 **Good? Bad? Leave your thoughts although you can always PM me with ideas, suggestions, comments if you want. Dylan the Rabbit. xx**


	14. Chapter 14

**The next time that I make the unbelievably stupid mistake of promising an update schedule please feel free to remind me of how long this chapter took to arrive. As usual when I do something like this Real Life inevitably turns around and gives me a good old fashioned kick in the cobblers. Sorry about that.**

 **And so the second in our series of thorny conversations is finally here. Will the more unpredictably violent and insane of the interrogees manage to provoke a similarly violent reaction from her creepy captor? Read on to find out.**

 **As always if you have ideas, suggestions or want to see something happen then put it in a review or give me a PM. As you have seen in Silent World I am more than happy to adapt it as we go if I find something that you've suggested helpful, useful or just plain amusing.**

 **I still don't own Harry Potter otherwise I'd be writing all day instead of working to pay the bills.**

 **Dylan the Rabbit. xx**

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 **Season of The Witch.**

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 **14\. Out in the Open (Part Two).**

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Bellatrix Black's time here at number Twelve Grimmauld Place had been extremely interesting so far. In just a little over a day she had gone from being the most feared and hated woman in the wizarding world to being the tragic victim of a pureblood conspiracy, before being folded back into the welcoming bosom of her first family. Well as far as the public was concerned anyway. She knew different. There were in fact quite a few of her newly extended family that had some very serious reservations about her.

Her sisters had been as sweet and attentive as she had expected them to be, gently caring for the dark woman who had been left so frail and weak from her long, _long_ stay in the wizarding prison. Once she regained her strength and and her vitality that had been so cruelly drained by the dementors she could easily see them falling back into the old, familiar rythms of their childhood. Lord Sirius, and didn't _that_ just take some getting used to, was being the the serious and concerned Head of House, providing the necessary potions to see her to full recovery that, of course he would know all too well from his own stay at Hotel Azkaban. He did seem a little hesitant and even reluctant though and this could come from only two places. His wife and his first blood adopted daughter.

The primary heiress and 'Dark Princess' of the House of Black. Cassandra Evans-Black. The 'girl-who-lived', Tri-Wizard Tournament champion and consumate slayer of Death Eaters, wherever they may hide. The nemesis of her former Lord and now current Lady. The girl who, judging on the memories that she had persuaded Lady Fleurdamorte to show her, was such a true monster that she made Bella feel like a mere amateur in the killing stakes. She had thought the little witch terrifying before, but now that she had seen her, quite frankly, awesome rampage at Delacour Villa she was totally sold on the danger that she presented.

And utterly besotted wth her too. It was a strange and heady mix of emotions for her to be having about the girl but, since strange was her normal, Bellatrix accepted it for what it was.

It was hero worship for the deadly, emerald eyed young woman who, even on her short re-acquaintance with the old family, was so obviously the power player of the House of Black. Honestly it was a toss up as to who she admired the most right now, Lady Fleurdamorte or Lady Cassandra. The two of whom were currently sequestered in Twelve Grimmauld Place's Head's study having a bit of a 'chat'. Although what they could find to talk about for three solid hours was simply mystifying to her but since it was more than likely far above her pay grade she didn't spend too much time thinking about it. Right up to the point that one of the young women in question glided gracefully into the sitting room and addressed her that is. Fleurdamorte's voice, full of carefully masked nervousness immediately put her on her guard.

"Lady Cassandra wishes to see you in the Head's study Aunt Bella, I would be pleased to escort you if desire it."

The smile on the face of Amelia Bones (Black, Bella, it's Amelia Black now) was wide and had an unfamiliar nasty quality to it that most people who dealt with her were lucky enough to never see. Unfortunately for her Bellatrix Lestrange, as she had been back then, _had_ seen it before. She had seen it on the night they came for her. Amelia had been part of the Auror squad that had cornered her in muggle London a week after the Dark Lord had been killed. Cornered her, taken her down and hauled her off to jail.

She had always wondered why Amelia hadn't simply killed her that night. Put her down like the rabid animal that she was back then. The vicious and intemperate Mad Eye Moody wouldn't have blinked even once before he looked away and let her do it. Bellatrix herself would have done it in a heartbeat had their positions been reversed. Done it and loved doing it. Old testament vengance had always given her almost as much of a hard on as straight up murder.

In the end, however, she thought that Bones' version of vengance had been much more cruel. Azkaban had been fourteen years of slowly dying a little bit more every day as what remained of her soul and her sanity was painfully taken from her piece by agonising piece. It was a breathtakingly vicious way to deal with the woman who had possibly/probably killed her brother, along with so many others. Bellatrix had approved whole-heartedly of this and gave the other woman a nod as she left for her meeting with another, and only slightly scarier, witch named Black.

The Black women were all instantly on alert as the beautiful, young Miss Delacour guided Bella gently from the room. Narcissa noticed that there was a casual tenderness in their interractions and a familiarity with each other that belied their brief acquaintance. An interesting developement that would warrant some future investigation. Blackmail was such an exquisite way to get what you wanted and one of her all time favourite methods of controlling those who could prove useful to her in the future. Even family were not immune from her machinations.

Looking for more targets, Narcissa watched the reactions of the other people in the room with extreme care.

Her sister Andromeda looked worriedly interested, the same face that Narcissa herself wore she supposed, the portrait of Aunt Walburga raised a surprised eyebrow while Amelia ... well Amelia looked fiercely pleased for some reason. The blonde haired woman was, of course, well versed enough in the sad and tragic events of the last war that she could understand that. The love that she held for her brother Edgar Bones was legendary as was the bloody brutality of his death at the hands of those nasty little sadists the Lestrange brothers. Whether Bellatrix had been involved or not had never been established beyond reasonable doubt but it wasn't exactly a stretch to place her there that night. Neither the Bones' or the Longbottoms had ever come up at her trial as it simply had not got that far. After the first hour, where she had boasted of the torture and murder of dozens of muggles and muggleborns nobody could stand to hear any more and she had been sumarily convicted and tossed into Azkaban.

The rumours had still persisted though and Narcissa guessed that this was why the current Lady Black was smiling like that. Mystery solved then. Not that it ever had been much of a one. She shrugged and turned her attention to the two idiot men in the room who, of course, hadn't noticed a bloody thing going on as they were much too involved in a very juvenile game of 'slaps' and laughing uproariously at each other.

Remus Lupin. What a complicated enigma that man was. At Hogwarts she had remembered him to be a perpetually scruffy but always studious and very intelligent young man and yet. And yet he had somehow become friends with her ridiculous cousins, Sirius and Jamie. A brilliant wizard, clever and talented and yet also a consumate prankster, enthusiatic enough in his extra curricular activities to even rival the less study minded marauders. Even despite the, not insignificant, handicap of being a werewolf, his relationship with the House of Black had now made him socially acceptable as well as rather powerful in his own right. He was a catch. A very good catch.

Being a daughter of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black she had been schooled to the belief that all such creatures were below them, but it seemed that Narcissa, alone among the sisters, had inherited her Aunt Walburga's sense of pragmatism as well. It was this sense that flexed it's muscles now and forced her to look at the untidy wizard as a potential match for her. There was no doubting the fact that he was certainly something of a 'fixer-upper' but she didn't really see this as a problem. Merlin knows that Narcissa Black did love a good project to get her teeth in to. And the idea that this particlar project would be quite challenging didn't put her off even slightly.

Also it was a very shrewd political move on her part to be romantically linked to the best and oldest friend of 'Lord Sirius' (Merlin help us) since the other Blacks were still pretty suspicious of her recent conversion to the cause. This view wasn't really helped by the fact that she had been a penniless widow of a ruined House for just slighlty less than a week before accepting the invitation to come back into the family of her birth. Not that anyone had expected her to refuse really but even she would admit that it did look a bit suspect. She needed something to convince her family that she really had changed and was on their side completely. She needed a buffer to her cousins who was beyond reproach. She needed Remus Lupin on her arm and in her bed.

Now she just had to convince the werewolf of the benefits to be gained by dating her rather than mooning over (no pun intended) little Nymphadora. It would be quite the hunt for Narcissa and, frankly, that was more than enough on it's own for her to want to take this on. And again he was quite the fashion disaster so there was the added excitement of shopping in order to make him acceptable for her to be seen with, something that her new Black trust vault at Gringotts now made more than possible. There was finally the added incentive for her that she had heard from certain ... _acquaintances_ of hers just how much stamina those with the curse of the moon had when it came to ... bedroom activities.

This could turn out to be rather ... _satisfying_.

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The walk down the hallway had been made in silence which persisted until the two witches were at the door to Head's study. A brief silencing charm later and the hidden Dark Lady gripped Bella's arm, giving a dark look to try and impart just how serious this situation was going to be for her.

"They know." The look darkened even further. " _She_ knows."

"What do they know?"

"Everything." The tiniest hint of her devious old smirk suddenly broke through on 'Fleur's face. "Well _almost_ everything. They know enough though."

"Oh. Well that sucks, I was just getting used to being free again."

The response caused Fleurdamorte to wince at the levity that was contained within it. It did not bode well.

"Bells you need to listen to me very carefully now, Bones and Granger wil be in there so ..." The blue eyes held her old warrior as she made another attempt to verbally beat some sense of self preservation into her. "... whatever you do in there do _not_ go out of your way to antagonise these witches, trust me you won't survive it if you do."

"Antagonise? Moi?"

Fleurdamorte wondered if Bella's terrible version of a sweet and innocent look had ever fooled anyone ... ever, before she counted to ten and took a deep calming breath.

"Yes you. Don't forget that they already know about me so don't worry about revealing anything, just be open, honest and, _if_ you can manage it, a little regretful of your former actions. In other words try not to be so ... " She gestured to all of the thin, careworn but still decidedly mischievous and insane woman with her hands. " ... _you_."

"But I'm _adorable_ , I'm sure that they'll just _love_ me."

Yeah, they were going to kill her. She sighed and gave it one last effort.

"Do try not to fuck this up Bellatrix, you would be difficult to replace. Not impossible, mind you just very difficult, very time consuming and very _annoying_ so please do give at least your best attempt at staying alive."

"What do you suggest My Lady, sewing my lips shut?"

The look that Fleurdamorte was giving her after this amusing (to her), but poorly thought through, light hearted rejoinder was straight out of the Voldemort 'how to be an evil overlord' handbook. It even managed to filter through to her badly broken brain that this was really not the time for jokes, no matter how self depracating they were. Unfortunately Bella was who she was and couldn't have stopped if she'd tried so the Veela's 'not a terrible idea' comment went unheard as she skipped along to the sounds of mayhem in her mind.

"Right." The mentally unstable woman snapped a jaunty salute and barked out. "Message recieved and understood ma'am. Temper down, check. Vigilance up, check. Sarcasm set to stun, check."

A head shaking Fleur finally gave up and wandered off back down the hallway to see if anyone had opened the firewhiskey yet, muttering darkly to herself.

"Merde, I'm going to have to start looking for somewhere to bury her body."

Although a small, decorative pot would probably do by the time the very talented Casssandra Evans-Black and her bloodthirsty lieutenants were through with Bella.

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The three girls inside the study reeled in the extendable ears that the ever helpful Weasley twins had loaned to them and smiled at each other. Even a silencing charm cast by the great and powerful Albus bloody Dumbledore couldn't stop Gred and Forge's fabulous invention from working so these two, currently well below par, witches had no chance. They really must thank the boys for this well timed and incredibly useful gift when they got back to school.

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As the most insane member of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black was poised to throw open the door to her Head of House's private study that Head's sister Charlotte was preparing for a confrontation of her own. How much of a confrontation it would be was going to be decided by the answer that the recipient of her request gave today. Which is why she was doing it at lunch and as publicly as possible. Cassie would want to know the reason if he did refuse and the old git wouldn't be able to deflect his way out if giving one if there were enough witnesses to the event. Albus Dumbledore's pride and his need to be universally loved would not allow him to look like the villain of the piece. Even when he was.

Charli squared her shoulders, adjusted her belt, reseating the wand and dagger on each hip and walked to the top table trying to exude an aura of confidence that she really wasn't feeling. However, the thought of not wanting to disappoint her most admired sister, and perhaps more importantly her girlfriend, kept her feet moving and her head up. On reaching Dumbledore's throne she looked him right in the eye and spoke loudly and clearly for all to hear.

"My sister, Lady Cassandra that is, requests a meeting on her return to school tomorrow Headmaster."

"Of course Miss Potter ... forgive me ... Miss _Black_." His patented eye twinkle didn't fool her for a second. She was well aware that he was actually trying to subtely insult her. "I would be delighted to meet with Lady Cassandra tomorrow. Just tell her to come on up to my office whenever she is ready."

"You'll be there all day?"

"Alas my dear Miss Black, the paperwork that I am fated to deal with as Headmaster of this venerable institution is like the trials of Sisyphus. It never seems to be finished."

The old man chuckled at her blank, confused look at his wonderfully obscure simile as her stupidity strangely delighted him no end. It seemed that her bushy haired, mudblood girlfriend wasn't rubbing off on young Charlotte that much then. Although he was rather missing the annoyingly unkillable Miss Granger quite a bit at this point. She, at least, would have gotten the joke.

He was a little upset at having been manouvred into a situation where he could not refuse the request for this meeting without appearing to be petulant, vindictive and uncaring. More so because the hawk-eyed Delores Umbridge was watching him carefully. Waiting for him to slip up. Well slip up again really as he doubted that his leniency towards those boys who had rather foolishly attacked the House of Freaks had gone un-noticed.

Perhaps that was what the 'girl-who-lived-to-give-him-indigestion' wanted to see him about. If so, it was going to be a very short meeting since he had no intention of changing his decision or his punishments for the upstanding young wizards who had made that silly mistake. No matter how much pressure the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black or the Ministry of Magic could bring to bear. This was _his_ school and was never going to give it up without a fight. A fight that he would win at all costs. Even if it meant letting Cassandra Evans-Black murder one of his staff after he told her about Severus' part in the death of her parents.

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Bellatrix Black felt her previous good mood dissipating fast, to be replaced with an unfamiliar nervous tension, as she stood with her back hard up against the swiftly locked door of the Head's study in Grimmauld Place. She had been in here a few times in the past to receive a dressing down from various older relatives for her behaviour (and how it reflected upon their glorious House) but had never felt like this before. Not even Aunt Walburga had affected her as much as the gorgeous, creepy teenager currently staring at her over those dark, rimless glasses from behind the large desk. She felt nervous and excited, filled with dread and comfort and, yes, even a strange, indescribable joy, all at the same time. It was a conflicting, confusion of emotions for her.

Magic was a funny thing. It held many mysterious and complicated secrets within it's make-up and oaths of loyalty and protection were very good examples of this. From the moment that Bellatrix Black had pledged her fealty and then requested and received her own promise of protection, Cassie had felt their magic responding to the oaths. And so had Bella. What this would mean for the two of them neither was exactly sure but they one thing they did know was that it was going to be interesting. Which, quite honestly, was it's own reward for these witches whose only real fear was that of being bored.

For Cassie, once she had gotten over her righteous anger, this was situation with Fleurdamorte and her former minion was something of a relief. While her life had not exactly been boring when viewed from the outside, she had felt like she was drifting along a bit recently. Her natural talent at elementalism made magic rather simple for her now and she was finding that her lessons at school seemed a little pedestrian and ... well ... beneath her. Of course she had her ridiculous family and friends to keep her grounded and entertained as well as a decently intelligent enemy in the old git Dumbledork but none of it really dispelled the ennui that she felt most of the time. It was like being in the army, long periods of dull routine interspersed with brief periods of extreme (and violent) excitement. As for Bella, it made her something that she hadn't felt in a very long time. Perky.

The mutual, silent, inquisitive study of each other that Cassie and Bella had begun this meeting with was soon brought to an end by the growling of an already pissed off sounding Hermione Granger barking out.

"Sit."

Cassie perused the woman who now moved slowly to sit before her with open interest. Bellatrix was a lot cleaner than she had been at their first meeting in the Wizengamot yesterday and someone had clearly been busy with some rejuvenation charms as the creases and wrinkles in her face looked much less pronounced now. That had to have been her sisters, although it was a fair bet that Voldemort/Fleurdamorte had probably been involved as well. She would admit that they had done a decent job though. Now free from the grime of her Azkaban cell and the effects of the dementors she could actually see the ghost of the beautiful young woman that Bellatrix had once been.

True that black, corsetted dress hung off of her stick thin figure, the cheekbones were far too pronounced, stretching uncomfortably against the skin and her strange, violet eyes were still sunken far into her skull but it couldn't mask everything. Cassie could appreciate just how she had got away with so much for so long. The files that Winky had ... ahem ... 'found' in her stepmum's briefcase and then delivered to her had been very comprehensive, very detailed and utterly fascinating. They may have disagreed on her motives and she may be totally batshit nuts but there was no doubting the sadistic brilliance of her mentally unstable relative when it came to her 'work'.

The Azkaban tattoo on her neck was pretty cool too. On Sirius it just looked botched, blurred and a bit weird but on Bella ... weird became interesting ... and badass. She risked a quick glance at Suzie to see what kind of mood her betrothed was in before bringing up the fact she now desperately wanted one of those awesome tatts on her own neck. Seeming to sense her lover's gaze, Susan turned quickly and gave her little wink that had the unfortunate effect of encouraging Cassie that this was a fantastic idea and that the redhead was going to love it.

 **Ooh I lke her tattoo, it's pretty. Do you think I should get one? A different number though, maybe ... now let's see ... oh yes, what about sixty nine.**

Even knowing that it was coming (so to speak), Susan still had to shake her head and have a little snigger at her betrothed's dirty mindedness. She stopped sniggering when she saw the look on Cassie's face and realised that she actually meant it. Oh balls, she was going to have to watch her like a hawk now (not exactly a chore for someone who could spend simply hours 'Cassie watching') and somehow try and keep her away from Luna. She noticed the confusion on Bellatrix's face at their 'conversation.

"She's just admiring your tattoo."

"Oh." The former Death Eater preened a little under the attention. "That must be rather annoying, having to translate everything she says like that."

 **Yeah but we only have to do it with people too lazy, too stupid or, in your case, too batshit fucking insane to learn sign language.**

"Yes it is rather."

Susan just couldn't help herself. She was so programmed into editing Cassie's answers into something more palatable so as not to upset people that it was pretty much automatic by this point. Not that she would have minded upsetting _this_ particular person too much.

"That's not what she actually said is it."

Nobody spoke to confirm Bella's suspicions but the smirking girl behind the desk shook her head slowly and started to huff out her odd, and incredibly creepy, laughter. Lady Cassandra Evans-Black might be strange and creepy and incredibly dangerous but Morgana's saggy tits she was a lot of fun.

And then the fun stopped.

.

"So are you going straight back to work for Volde ... sorry _Fleurdamorte_ once you're back up to strength."

Bella snorted.

"It's a bit of a shit name isn't it."

 **I don't know I quite like it.**

"You would."

The former Death Eater was thinking that she was really going to have to learn this signing thing that they did if only so that she catch these, clearly highly amusing, little asides that Lady Cassandra made occasionally. She also really wanted to know what she and the Bones girl talked about as it was simply bound to be terribly scandalous. Only lovers teased each other with such vehemence and such affection in their eyes. But now she had to put away these thoughts and conentrate on the conversation because as cute and fun as they seemed this stuation had more than enough potential to become extremely dangerous. She would have to at least try to be serious here.

"About the following Fleurdamorte, I'm still not sure to be honest with you."

"Really Bellatrix? Oh not the not being sure thing. It's just the thought of honesty from you. It isn't quite what we were expecting."

"Well there's not much point in being anything else is there. You girls obviously know about the Dark Lady so why bother with my denials and your revelations, it would be such a collosal waste of time to have to wade through all of that bullshit. And I do so hate wasting time."

 **As much as I hate to admit it I'm actually starting to like her.**

"I can see that ... and ... yeah, me too. Hermione?"

"I still don't like the murderous, pureblood bitch but at least she's got the right idea about not wasting our motherfucking time."

Those soft, chocolate coloured orbs never left her own and Bella started to shift her opinion on just who might be the biggest threat to her safety today as they burned into hers with an almost frightening intensity. The looks being shared between the other two also told her that the little mudblood wasn't exactly given to outbursts of ill temper and swearing. It just added to that feeling of imminent danger. Given Bella's own chequered history, no doubt written with maximum vitriol by the victors of course, she couldn't really blame her for being a bit antagonistic towards her. It's not like any of it was exactly false after all.

Abandoning all thoughts of safety and sanity in favour of coaxing out the beast that resided within her short, scary cousin, Bella waded straight in.

"So do you want to get the 'biggies' out of the way first or are we going to work up to them? I would like to register my vote for the former option since patience ... _really_ not my best quality."

The three girls shared a look and a 'what the hell' kind of a shrug between them.

"Alright then. Why did you start killing and toturing people, was it because of a lack of brains or a lack of sanity?"

Oh she liked this mud-baby. Direct and totally unafraid of broaching the difficult and dangerous subjects with someone of her reputatuion. Of course she probably had a good deal of practice, having to converse on a daily basis with her quick tempered little cousin however many times removed she was. She chuckled darkly and had a small bout of wracking coughs before replying.

"I was young, in love with magic and all of the awesome power that it brings. There's nothing quite like the feeling of literally holding somebody else's life in your hands. It's empowering and it's addictive. _Very_ addictive."

She saw the Granger girl's eye start to twitch and noted the reaction of Lady Cassandra who was now leaning forward and hungrilly devouring every word with clearly increasing interest.

"I'm not making any excuses for my behaviour and I won't say for a second that I didn't want it because I did. I know what I am, a lunatic who revels in committing acts of torture and murder and creating mayhem and I accept all of my ... eccentricities without demurr. I _will_ say that the more you use these 'dark' spells, the more people that you use them on, to torture and kill, the more you want to do it again. That's why I said it's like an addiction, but even so, you still have to want to do it in the first place and there's no denying that I did exacly that."

"Okay, I can accept that it's like an addiction, I can understand about the thrill and the allure of the power of those 'dark' spells, what I don't understand is ... why only muggleborns?"

"There are some very good reasons for that."

Observing the expressions, or rather the chilling lack of them, on the faces of her audience she thought that these reasons had better be good. Since she couldn't think of anything good right now Bella decided to keep up with whole 'cheerful and unrepentant honesty' shtick that had seemed to be working alright up to now.

"First, I was raised in the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black and I'm assuming that since you're here, you've been around my family long enough to just how _that_ would have played out. And what it could have created. And _did_ create in fact."

Okay she was doing well so far. All she could see from the girls at the moment was genuine interest. Bella decided to push on with this surprisingly effective tactic and even raised the stakes a touch.

"Second, I always enjoyed hurting people ... probably still do as it goes ... and it caused less problems for me and my relatives if those that I hurt were mudbl ... muggleborns and their families. It was a different time, you see, back then the authorities weren't too bothered if a few of _them_ 'disappeared'. Well at least until a few more people like young Miss Bones' formidable aunt started to get into the Auror division and things started to change. It had always been technically illegal of course, but the rozzers had always turned a blind eye to it but then within a couple of years it suddenly became much more socially unacceptable to go off muggle hunting. Luckily for me, the Dark Lord came along and gave me an outlet for my violence ... as well as 'saving' us from the liberal agenda and the muggle theat."

"You didn't actually _believe_ all that bollocks about muggleborns being inferior to purebloods did you?"

"Not really no. As much as my bastard of a father tried to beat those lessons into me they never really took. I was mostly in it for the violence."

"So you're just a psychopath then?"

"Pretty much."

This wasn't even going slightly how Cassie had imagined it would. There was none of the expected vitriolic rage against them, nor the total, abject submission that she had also considered as a tactic that Bellatrix might use to ensure her survival until she was recovered and could come at them. Instead her dark, lunatic cousin was being completely candid and open with them, however dangerous it was for her to do so and however bad it made her look. Cassie actually admired that about her. Not that she was about to show that.

"Do you regret any of it?"

The bushy haired mudblood pointed at the open DMLE file on the enormous desk as she asked her question.

"I regret getting caught."

The light laugh that she had been going for turned into a dry hacking cough that stopped her in her tracks for a moment. Bellatrix noted the total and utter lack of sympathy (along with any any other kind of emotion) that her situaton was causing among the hard faced young witches. Wow, tough crowd. She nodded her thanks as Cassie eventually made a small gesture with her hand and Hermione filled two glasses, one with water and the other with a throat soothing potion.

"I regret the waste of life for a lie."

"She told you about the half blood thing did she? That's ... surprising."

"I won't say it wasn't a shock because it was. But recently ... let's just say that my eyes have been opened. It helps that the two most powerful people that I know are halfies."

"Recently?"

"Since my release."

Slightly before actually but there was no need for them to know about Lady Fleudamorte's visit to see her in Azkaban.

"Anything else you regret?"

"Nope." She shrugged and popped the 'p' in her response. "Not a fucking thing. As some semi intelligent muggle once said; Regret is an appalling waste of energy, you can't build on it - it's only good for wallowing in."

"They also say that 'manners maketh the man' so you might want to rein in the cursing a bit."

"And why should I do anything _you_ say little mud-baby."

Cassie's hand thumped down on the desk so hard that she cracked the wood. The pleasant, chatty girl with the amusing turn of phrase was suddenly gone and in her place stood the snarling monster that had slaughtered dozens. Bellatrix had pushed and poked and prodded at the girl with her jocular honesty about her well deserved reputation until she had finally got the reaction that she had been hoping for. It seemed that the 'M' word was the key to unlocking her cool and funny de-facto Head of House's terrifying alter-ego. This is who she had been waiting to see all afternoon.

The Black Butcher.

It didn't disappoint.

The switch had finally been flipped and monster was loose.

In the blink of an eye the Head of House's centuries old desk was now in several, much smaller pieces, all of which were on fire as the suddenly enraged young woman flew at her. There was excitement and fear, in about equal measure, for Bella as she watched that nasty looking goblin dagger slip from it's sheath and disappear into a melting black mass as it shivered and morphed into a new shape. A new shape that only had one target. Her. It took a few moments but the fear finally won out.

Seeing her execute people in a killing frenzy in somebody else's memories was one thing, having Cassandra Evans-Black standing before you with a fucking great sword at your throat was another matter entirely. Bellatrix took one look at the girl leaning over her with smoke rolling impressively off of her body, igniting small fires on her robes, and the ice cold fury in those killing curse green eyes and she made a decision.

Lord Voldemort's top Death Eater and Lady Fleurdamorte's current bodyguard and lieutenant dropped to her knees and bowed her head in total submission to her Head of House.

"Forgive me my Lady Cassandra. Sometimes my mouth runs away with itself before my brain is fully engaged. I meant no disrespect to you or yours."

The humble act worked. Well along with the Bones girl whispering in the twitching teenager's ear about how bad an idea killing her in the house that contained the head of the DMLE was and her sincere (totally not) apology that Bella gave to the mudblood, still from her knees. Although this last took some effort on her part as she was still trying not to chuckle at what Lady Cassandra's clever little girlfriend had said. Or _not_ said in this case. She hadn't said that killing her was a bad idea, only that doing it _here_ was. With thoughts about redheaded apples not falling far from trees, Bella turned her attention to repairing her relationship with her Head of House, whose true face she had, at last, now seen for herself.

It took a while.

After much praising of Bones and Granger for their wandless _'reparo'_ work (which was actually meant) and a great deal of contrition from her (which was really not meant), Bellatrix Black finally managed to steer the conversation back to less choppy waters. Those calmer seas came at a cost that included some concessions to the sensibilities of her hosts here in the study but she would live with them if it led to better relations with her brand new heroine. Of course this didn't mean that her nature was entirely over-ridden by her adoration and Bella's mouth just couldn't stop running.

"Ooh, I have a question, my Lady."

The slightly manic tone should have warned her but Cassie paid it no mind, cocked her head on one side and raised an eyebrow in a vaguely interested 'proceed' gesture. Underneath the hastilly repaired desk her knuckles whitened as they gripped the hilt of her dagger tighter in readiness for action. She wasn't about to forgive and forget again. No matter how amusing her mad cousin was. Speaking of which.

"Why do you only date girls? I mean, I did a bit of experimentation at school myself, and I get some of it, they're all soft and they smell nice but I don't think I could do it exclusively. I'd just really miss a nice, hard cock up my ... "

"No! My ears."

"Oh my good God."

 **I think I just threw up in my mouth a bit.**

The gagging and ear covering reactions of the girls at her unsolicited and, given the age and orientation of her audience, entirely inappropriate sex talk had Bella grinning like a loon. She was congratulating herself as much for this as for her ability to enrage the scary 'Black Witch' and still come out unscathed today and decided to celebrate. Giving a questioning look and combining it with one of her most innocent expressions, she asked.

"What? Too far?"

Naturally the meeting had descended into something of a farce after this, perpetrated mainly by Bellatrix and Cassie whom, it seemed, shared a mutual fondness for trying to embarrass other (less fun) people with dirty talk. They were slightly aided and abetted in this endeavour by Susan which resulted in them all being subjected to a detailed lecture on the ins and outs of lesbian sex from Hermione. Bella was simply amazed at the depth of the apparent 'good' girl's knowledge and experience on this matter and even found herself wondering if she shouldn't give the whole sapphic thing another bash. Those toys that they used nowadays sounded like a lot of fun.

.

Eventually their time had been brought to a halt by that stern, little female elf instructing them that they were all to get ready for a big family dinner in the formal dining room tonight and there was no denying her. Finally released and out in the hallway, a mildly disappointed Bella cast a quick _'tempus'_ spell which told her that she had been in there for over two hours. Funny that. It seemed longer. Still they could always continue their enlightening chat over dinner. Cissy and the staightlaced Lady Amelia would probably shit a brick at their risque talk, which only made her want to do it more.

"Are you alright Bells, how did it go?"

The former prisoner looked down the hallway to catch the eye of mistress ... well her _other_ mistress now she supposed ... who was hurrying towards her, checking for any sign of injury and gave her a subtle wink.

"Like I said, I'm _adorable_ and they _loved_ me."

"And the very loud crashing noises that the whole house must have heard?"

"It's a romance my Lady." Bella shrugged nonchalantly. "And like all romances it can't be sunshine and roses all of the time. Surely my big, strong niece has taught you that by now, I mean, she _is_ a Black after all."

"What do you mean by that?"

Okay so talk about adorable, when Fleurdamorte, being so unfamiliar with the subtelties of emotional attachment, got that confused look on her face it was _sooo_ cute. Like a kitten chasing a constantly moving beam of light that was always just out of her reach.

"You know us Black girls, all passion and tempestuous temper. We do so adore teasing and tormenting those who we love."

"Love." Fleurdamorte spat out the word contemptously. "I most certainly do not _love_ her. She is a useful tool, nothing more. Protective, well connected and talented enough to help us train and regain our strength for our future endeavours. Love is an un-necessary distraction and a trap that _I_ will certainly never be caught in."

Ah methinks the Lady doth protest too much. Well that's what she would have said if she wasn't quite so wary of getting a crucio in the face for it. Instead Bella allowed her amusement of the clueless faux Veela to leak out into her conscious thoughts, knowing that Fleurdamorte would pick up on it from her passive leglimency. The gorgeous blonde Dark Lady's pouty, annoyed expression as she did exactly that was more than worth the risk, she thought.

Still, she did have a point about little Nymphie helping the two of them to train.

Bellatrix couldn't wait to be strong enough to get started. She wanted to, once again, become good enough so that she could engage her Lady Cassandra in a 'friendly' practice duel when she came home for the Winter break. Not that she expected to win, mind you, not against that awesome power and ferocity that the girl could summon up seemingly in the blink of an eye. But winning wasn't the goal. Bella had discovered long ago that you learned so much more from losing than you did by winning. You learned about your current magical strength and skill level, your stamina and, more importantly, about yourself. It was a lesson that she hoped to teach her Dark Lady in the near future. Both of them actually.

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 **Your reviews are oh so** _ **precious**_ **to me but not necessary. I'm certainly not going to hold you guys to ransom over them.**

 **Good? Bad? Leave your thoughts although you can always PM me with ideas, suggestions, comments if you want. Dylan the Rabbit. xx**


	15. Chapter 15

**Massive apologies for the delay in updating my lovely readers. It's not just this story that I'm struggling with but actually** _ **all**_ **of them. Real life is not being kind to me at the moment but, being the stubborn old bastard that I am, I refuse to give up on this or anything else.**

 **I have reams and reams of notes for all six of my 'open' fics but seem to be having quite a bit of difficulty at the moment converting those notes into actual chapters. But I will persevere. See above (stubborn old bastard) for details. The only good thing about this is that when I do hit my stride again there should be a mass of updates coming in quick succession.**

 **Anyway, enough about my problems, let's get on shall we.**

 **As always if you have ideas, suggestions or want to see something happen then put it in a review or give me a PM. As you have seen in Silent World I am more than happy to adapt it as we go if I find something that you've suggested helpful, useful or just plain amusing.**

 **I still don't own Harry Potter otherwise I'd be writing all day instead of working to pay the bills.**

 **Dylan the Rabbit. xx**

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 **Season of The Witch.**

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 **15\. Out in the Open (Part Three).**

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Dinner at Twelve Grimmauld Place the night after Cassie's meetings with Fleur and Bellatrix was an awkward affair to say the least. Some of this was due to the extremely curious looks that those who had been secreted away in the Head of House's study were being given, but mostly it was the behaviour of the two, black haired 'cousins'. Which at least served to ease some of the gnawing tension that was prevalent around the room.

As had quickly become their habit, Cassie was flanked by Susan and Hermione and Bellatrix by her sisters but they had made sure that they were sat opposite each other at the magically extended dining table. That the Lady of the house had allowed this seating arrangement to occur turned out to be a rather large mistake, as the rest of the family soon discovered.

The two, raven haired monsters seemed to have gotten past whatever argument it was that had shaken the old house to it's foundations this afternoon and were deep in discussion. A discussion that was being assisted by the highly amused Susan Bones. A discussion that started with playful, flirtatious banter and then quickly descended into them sharing some very lewd stories about their respective sexual encounters. Most of the gathering thought that even nervous tension was preferable to this.

To say that the Blacks were surprised at how well the two frighteningly similar witches were getting on was something of an understatement. Although it had to be said that Sirius looked like he had some particularly fierce ants in his pants (and possibly piles) as he was just _itching_ to get involved with some tales of his own. One look at his wife's thunderous face, however, forced him to suppress this urge. Amelia's temper, with the pregnancy and all, had reached almost Cassie levels of ferocity by now and he knew not to push his luck with her.

Remus, meanwhile, who also might have been tempted to join in the banter between Cassie and Bellatrix, was kept from this course of action by the very distracting presence of Narcissa at his side.

She was being anything but obvious about it (she was a Slytherin alumni after all) but the werewolf was definitely feeling the force of her ... _personality_. Well that and the carefully selected dress that displayed just enough (but not too much) of her lightly perfumed cleavage to make his tongue to feel as if it were about twice it's normal size. It made conversation a little difficult, but Remus was nothing if not a consummate gentleman so he tried anyway. It was a valiant attempt but completely un-necessary as Narcissa seemed more than happy to do most of the talking anyway.

Susan and Cassie were having a rather entertaining evening, the redhead in particular was enjoying all of the shocked faces at her betrothed's rather risque banter with the former Death Eater. They noticed that their bushy haired friend wasn't doing quite so well though. She had been uncharacteristically quiet this evening, not even responding to a blatantly incorrect assumption about the way in which muggles used computers and the internet.

Once they had been excused from the table they stepped into the library for a private chat about what they could do to cheer their friend up. Cassie started it.

 **I think we should let Hermione stay with us tonight. She looks like she could use the support.**

"Have I told you lately how unbelievably sweet and adorable you are."

Cassie got all shy and dreamy at her betrothed's praise. She shuffled her feet on the carpet and hooked her little finger around Suzie's, started to gently swing their joined hands before glancing up at the redhead with a small, winning smile.

"And an enormous dork as well obviously."

A swift and well aimed kick to her shins from that very same enormous dork brought a small yelp of pain from the grinning redhead.

"Oi! We're not even engaged yet and I'm already a victim of domestic abuse."

 **Oh, I'll show you abuse Susan Bones.**

"Promises, promises."

The redhead sing-songed out her response in a manner purely designed to get a reaction out of her beautiful betrothed. A reaction that she hoped would lead to a pleasant heavy petting session which would have to hold them over until tomorrow since they were planning on sharing their bed with Hermione tonight. Susan was thinking that Cassie's naughty, wandering hands were just starting to get to interesting when they were rudely interrupted.

"Ahem."

They froze mid grope as Amelia Black cleared her throat in a frighteningly accurate, although probably not planned, impersonation of a certain DADA professor of their acquaintance.

"Ladies do you think that you could possibly refrain from doing that in the Library. Or at least wait until Hermione and I are out of the room."

 **Sorry mum.**

"Sorry Auntie."

Thankfully at this point Hermione decided to save everyone from too much further embarrassment by taking charge of the situation.

"Come on you two let's go to bed. I've had a long bloody day and all I want to do is put this horrible day firmly in the rear-view mirror right now."

The bushy haired witch squeaked as she was immediately sandwiched between the two younger girls in a crushing hug. It was very nice and comforting for a minute or two but then air started to become an issue and she had to ask to be released. They took her gently by the hand and led Hermione out of the library and up the stairs to the Head's suite.

Amelia smiled proudly at the retreating girls and allowed a small, but extremely proud, smile to form as she caressed her ever growing belly.

"You are going to be a very lucky child, little one. Your sisters are just too cute and they're going to dote on you." She wagged her finger at the bump. "But I don't want to see you emulating any of their less sweet behaviour, do you hear?"

.

When they reached the Head's suite and Hermione had still not been released from the grip of her friends, she finally realised that she wasn't going to be allowed to be alone tonight. Which was actually something of a comfort since her mind was still racing from the day's conversations and events and being secluded with her dark thoughts was probably not going to help her sleep well. However, it did bring up a couple of important questions in her mind.

She looked around the room searching for another bed for her.

"Well where am I sleeping then?"

Cassie gave her a perplexed frown and indicated the huge four poster bed that dominated the bedroom, causing Hermione's face to turn almost purple and her jaw to drop open in shock. The two other girls had already jumped up on the bed and had turned down the sheets invitingly before she regained the power of speech.

"We are _not_ having a threesome."

It took Susan and Cassie quite some considerable time to calm down from the uproarious laughter that shook both them and, impressively (but annoyingly) the bed they were on.

 **Have you actually** _ **met**_ **my girlfriend before 'Mione? She hexed a bloody Veela to hell and back for** _ **looking**_ **at me funny, do you really think that a threesome is on the cards tonight?**

"What can I say, as an only child I've never been good at sharing."

That the redhead was actually looking rather proud of this fact did not go un-noticed by Hermione. She shook her head and rolled her eyes at Susan and the now wildly grinning Cassie before laying out her conditions for their sleeping arrangements. If this was happening, and she knew that she wouldn't be escaping the very sweet but extremely over-protective witches clutches now, then there were going to be _rules_.

"Alright then, but you _both_ have to wear _at least_ underwear and a nightgown. Oh and if I even catch the slightest _hint_ of any hanky panky going on the pair of you will find yourselves sleeping on the sofa. Do I make myself clear?"

The two mischievous girls in the huge bed gave her a pair of innocent little, 'butter wouldn't melt' expressions as they nodded their understanding and assent. She knew that there was no way that those two would be able to keep their hands off each other. But honestly, she was too tired and too affected by everything that had happened today, as well as her two very sweet friends' behaviour to care right now.

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There was a great deal of excitement in the Psycho Freak tower this morning over a breakfast provided by professor Sinistra and a small group of suddenly extremely helpful castle elves. Their abrupt attitude adjustment had come as a consequence of receiving a rather expletive laden dressing down from an absolutely furious Winky who had been appalled at, what she considered to be, their dereliction of duty in allowing harm to come to the students that they were entrusted with looking after. Then she had threatened them with the Chief elf of the House of Black and that adjustment was cemented.

Every house elf in Britain knew of Kreacher, of his close relationship with not one, but _two_ of the scariest witches out there and none of them wanted his involvement. The Fey alone knew what Mad Bella and the Black Butcher had taught their much loved family retainer. Kreacher of House Black was a warning bed-time tale for young elves who were slack or slipshod in their work.

Of course, the Freaks knew none of this. They were simply pleased that they had got a rather delicious breakfast in their dorms provided by some of the most friendly elves that they had ever seen. Indeed, for some of them it was the _first_ elves that they had ever seen, which got them even more excited. It was a fun morning.

Their good mood was soon extinguished, however, by the arrival, an hour later, of their unofficial leader and her two lieutenants. All of whom, although looking quite well rested, were a bit rumpled and clearly deep in thought and not terribly happy with whatever had happened over the last few days.

After changing into her Black combat uniforms, the three had come back down to the common room looking a little more refreshed, if no more serene. Cassie had then gone around her Housemates individually and checked them all very carefully for any physical or psychological injuries that they might have suffered. She gave them all some of her time but stayed the longest with her two 'big, brave boys', making the two enormous lumps blush impressively when she kissed them both for protecting 'their' girls so selflessly.

It was all rather sweet and would have calmed the House down further had they not all picked up on the undercurrent of barely suppressed rage that followed the Black Witch around even in these moments. It was so obvious that the very air seemed thicker around her and everyone was picking up on it. She had given the House prefects a significant look, tapped her finger on her dagger and, receiving nods of agreement from them, left for her meeting with Dumbledore.

Even Philip could see that his own peculiar brand of boundless optimism would not be appropriate today and he held his tongue until Cassie had banged her way out of the tower with more force than was strictly necessary.

"Is there something wrong, Miss Hermione?"

"Nothing for any of you to really worry about Philip. Cassie's got one more meeting today and then we'll sit you all down and tell you what's been going on, I promise."

She smiled down at the young man, who had clearly been elected as the spokesperson for the First Years, ruffled his hair playfully and then said.

"And a couple of the girls are going to need some cheering up tonight so can I ask that you put your special 'Cassie whispering' talents to use again please."

Philip beamed at the thought of being the Psycho Freaks' official 'Cassie whisperer' and nodded his head wildly in agreement with her. He gathered his year mates and decided to approach the funny and cool Miss Luna to assist him in planning for a suitable night of entertainment to cheer up his new Hogwarts family. This was possibly a mistake on his part but he was still young and enthusiastic enough not to care.

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Cassie made her way past the gargoyle, which moved aside at her merest glance, and up the spiral staircase to the Headmaster's office for only the second time in her Hogwarts career. She wasn't surprised when he called out for her to enter before she had even knocked on the door and even less surprised to see him sitting stiffly in his throne with that big, fake smile on his stupid face.

It was an obvious power play. One that Cassie had used herself, as recently as yesterday, when entertaining both Fleur and Bellatrix in her own study at Grimmauld Place. As such it left her entirely underwhelmed. A fact that seemed to amuse Fawkes at least as he flew quickly to her shoulder and immediately began chattering to her in his chirping, trilling language.

Cassie couldn't really understand what he was 'saying' of course, but the support was appreciated. Well by her at least. From Dumbledore's darkening expression beneath the now strained smile, she guessed that he wasn't quite so amused. As fun as upsetting the old goat fucker was, however, she was here for business today.

 **Headmaster.**

"Miss Evans-Black what a lovely surprise to see you here ... and alone." He raised his eyebrows. Clearly he had been expecting a large, angry delegation rather than this intimate little chat. "Not that it isn't a pleasure you understand just surpr ... "

 **Shall we cut the shit Albus?**

"Ah, it's going to be one of _those_ conversations is it? Alright then, Gryffindors forward as they say. What was it that you wanted to talk about?"

 **You know very well what I want to talk about.**

"I could hazard a guess." A condescending smile made it's way to the old man's lips. "Very well Evans, I take it you wish to discuss the incident involving your Housemates that occurred here on Friday evening."

Cassie knew that he was just trying to rile her up with his arrogance and casual insults but she wasn't about to let him get away with it. Not today.

 **It's Evans-** _ **Black**_ **sir, as you well aware, and I don't appreciate it when people disrespect my da'.**

Albus was a little taken aback at the vehemence of her reaction even though he really shouldn't have been.

"I don't think that I said anything to disrespect James Potter."

He was rewarded for this statement by the tell-tale twitching of the teenager's eye at his use of the name of her biological parent. And what a rich reward it was. James Potter was someone who, he knew, she thought was an utter bastard that had abandoned her and her mother when they had needed him the most. Leaving them to die at Voldemort's hand probably hadn't helped with her poor impression of the man either.

The fact that he had then himself been targeted and killed by the old version of Tommy/Tammy Riddle clearly didn't garner the dead hero any respect or sympathy in her book. He leaned back in his throne and waited for the inevitable explosion. To his great disappointment it never came.

Although watching the impressive feat of her attempting to swallow her rage was almost as entertaining. However, he hadn't been lying when he had told her half sister that he had a never ending mountain of paperwork to get on with so he decided to push on. Apparently the Black Witch also had other things to do today as he watched her sign out.

 **Let's just get on with it shall we?**

"Indeed. So, I'm assuming that you are unhappy with my punishment of the young men involved in the 'misunderstanding' the other night."

 **That was no misunderstanding, Headmaster. They attacked my House. Both of them actually since Miss Delacour is now a ward of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Also you're absolutely right about me being unhappy with it. I certainly don't consider one detention and the loss of ten House points to be, in any way, adequate for their crime. They should all be expelled. Suspended at the very least.**

"Oh, come now, Miss Evans- _Black_ , it was merely some bad blood and youthful exhuberance, hardly a crime."

 **They planned a pre-meditated attack on young and vulnerable students in** _ **your**_ **school under** _ **your**_ **care which they then executed with deadly intent using lethal spells. I would most assuredly call that a crime.**

"Lethal spells? I wouldn't call any of the spells that they cast lethal. You are simply over emotional and over-reacting."

 **Over-reacting am I. Tell me Headmaster, what do you suppose happens if a well trained, sixteen year old, wizard were to hit an eleven year old first year in the head with multiple bonebreaker curses?**

Young Cassandra's impeccable reasoning along with her implacable, if chilling, calm was starting to sow the seeds of doubt and worry in Dumbledore's mind now. He had expected her to rage and bluster, which he was more than prepared for, but what he was actually getting was a kind of buttoned down and well controlled fury. It reminded him uncomfortably of her mother Lily. That woman may have been a disgusting mudblood but there had also never been any doubt of her intelligence or her magical power. Lily Evans had always ameliorated her prodigious and infamous temper with the ability to keep using her brains in any and all kinds of high pressure situation.

This kind of cold, quiet, reasoned and intelligent response on the part an Evans had always scared him much more than mere righteous anger. Frankly, he had thought the 'brat-who-lived' incapable of it but now he was becoming increasingly unsure of that assertion. The thought of the magical battering ram that was Cassandra Evans-Black having finally learned to control her emotions rather than being ruled by them was causing him quite a large amount of distress at the moment.

He had always relied on the temperamental girl do most of the damage to her reputation herself with her hot temper and excessive fondness for violence. If she had developed, or more likely been assisted in developing, a sense of restraint then he was going to have to re-assess her threat level.

And to be fair her threat level was already fairly high.

It was also annoying for him at the moment.

Albus knew that Delores Umbridge and her Ministry bosses had been waiting for an opportunity to start the process of removing him and he fully expected the incident with the Freaks to be used as such. Very soon afterwards, he anticipated that he would be suspended unless he took a 'voluntary' sabbatical from the headmaster's position. It would definitely grate on him some, being forced out like that, even temporarily, but he would cope with it. And it wasn't like he didn't have enough to keep him busy what with his ICW duties and being Chief Warlock and all.

Besides he had a plan. A plan involving the violent young woman in front of him. A plan which was in serious jeopardy if she managed to keep her temper in check. However, even if she _did_ somehow manage to stay her hand in relation to Misters Nott and Weasley and their associates, Albus had a back-up plan.

Deciding that a 'belt and braces' approach when dealing with the unpredictable witch was preferable to total failure he moved to enact that as well.

"Well I can see that we're just going to have agree to disagree on this matter Miss Evans-Black."

She expected nothing else really but it still angered her. The old man just seemed to have that effect on her with his whole 'I, and _only_ I, know best' attitude. But then he had been doing this for the entire time that she had known him so none of what was being said surprised her.

 **So we're done.**

"Hmmm, not exactly. There was something that _I_ actually wanted to talk to _you_ about if you have the time."

 **Okay.**

Cassie was suspicious, especially so because the old git was smiling at her. He only did that when he had something really nasty up his sleeve for her. It started out innocently enough but the Black heiress wasn't fooled for an instant. And she definitely wasn't letting her guard down.

And here he went.

"Now that your cousin Bellatrix is back in the fold, I just wondered if you'd had the chance to speak with her yet."

 **That's it?**

"That's it."

 **That's what you want to know, whether or not I've had a chat with cousin Bella?**

"Precisely so."

She couldn't the harm in telling him. Yet.

 **We've had a conversation or two.**

"And how did you find her?"

 **Rather entertaining actually.**

"Yes I can see how the two of you might get along."

 **And what is** _ **that**_ **supposed to mean?**

"Only that you remind me very much of her when she went to school here. I mean besides the looks. You both have that drive, that thirst to improve yourselves. It really is rather admirable." His beaming smile seemed to lose some of it's lustre as he obviously thought of something else. "Her being one of Voldemort's most trusted lieutenants must have caused you some issues though surely?"

 **It was a challenge, certainly, but at the end of the day she** _ **is**_ **family and we** _ **did**_ **get over it.**

Time for a telling blow, he felt.

"Yes, family always was the best way to get Bellatrix on board ... and of course you've already had practice what with forgiving Severus for his past mis-deeds. As terrible as they are."

Oh how delicious the silence was for Albus now. He could almost taste the sudden tension in the air of the office. And now he would finish their little mental and verbal dueling session with his carefully prepared coup-de-grace.

"Although, given your reputation for retribution against those who have wronged you, I must admit to no small amount of surprise that you let him get away with such a serious offence. Indeed, I imagined that the man who was responsible for your mother's murder would have suffered a fate worse than death rather than numerous invitations to summer parties and Black family get togethers."

It was over fast but he was watching and waiting for it so he caught the tell-tale twitch of her eye and the sudden whiteness of her knuckles as the 'girl-wo-lived' clenched her hands into fists in her lap.

Take that bitch.

"Oh you didn't know?"

It took almost all of Albus Dumbledre's considerable willpower to suppress the grin that was threatening to break out on his face.

"I can tell you the whole story if you'd like."

And she was done. He had her hook, line and sinker.

 **Tell me everything.**

"Everything? Well that could take quite some time. Are you sure that you'd like to ... "

Her small fist smashed into the polished wooden surface of his desk, smashing a hole through it and creating a whirlwind of splinters to jump out at him. Smiling nastily he held up his hand, silently arresting their momentum and reforming the wood with a wave.

 _ **Everything!**_

"Very well Miss Evans-Black." His fingers steepled to make a rest for his chin as he leaned forward over the repaired desk, to stare right into her enraged eyes. "I shall tell you ... _everything_."

.

Cassie had entered the Headmaster's office this morning with a plan to put him off of his stride by threatening to turn his beloved school into a war-zone. To demonstrate his total lack of control in front of the Ministry's tool, professor Umbridge.

And in ten minutes flat that plan had been shot to pieces by the cunning old codger who had just sand-bagged her with this information about professor Snape's betrayal of her natural parents.

For the next hour and a half the old man had spun his tangled tale.

About the man that she had thought of as 'Uncle Sev', her best ally here at Hogwarts and how he had revealed the prophecy that had sent the Dark Lord off the deep end. It had been been Severus Snape's unrelenting anger and jealousy against the marauders, along with the fact that he had overheard part of that damned prophesy, that had caused Voldemort to hunt her family down and kill them.

Not that she cared too much about James bloody Potter but the fact that her first and staunchest supporter and tentative friend among the staff had aided and abetted in her mother's murder had knocked her for six.

She was struggling to keep a tight lid on her towering rage which was threatening to break free, knowing that if it did get loose she probably wouldn't be able to stop herself from going on a bloody rampage through the castle.

Which, Cassie realised, was exactly what he expected her to do.

Fuck! He had _played_ her.

The old bastard had known exactly what this little story would do to her and he had played her like a fucking fiddle. And he had done it with ease.

 **This isn't over old man. Not by a long fucking way.**

.

Albus Dumbledore slumped back into his chair as the door to his office crashed noisily against it's frame following an overly firm tug on the handle by his temperamental little visitor. That this feat was achieved without the use of either her hands or that nasty, threstral hair wand of her's, while being rather impressive, was just adding to his view that she was now the Darker of his two possible nemeses.

While 'Tammy' had returned wiser and more patient, by contrast, Cassandra Evans-Black was becoming more secretive, more violent and much less tolerant of those who wronged her. He would have probed deeper but he could feel the beginnings of a decent set of occlumency barriers so had withdrawn quickly to avoid both alerting her to his presence in her mind and feeling the full force of her anger.

Presently, it was directed at his Potions Master (hopefully anyway) and he really didn't want to distract her from the task of butchering Severus in front an appointed Ministry official. Unfortunately he would not be here to see it as he was now planning his immediate 'sabbatical', which he was positive would be viewed by nasty little toad and her masters as a kind of self suspension.

It galled him to have to do this but it would be far better for his continued 'leader of the light' reputation if he removed himself from Hogwarts before the Ministry did it for him. The necessity fo this action was compounded by the fact that Delores Umbridge was going to be the one in charge when the 'Black Butcher' went on on a psychotic killing spree in the castle.

Both of his enemies would hang themselves out to dry on the fickle and dangerous tree branch that was public opinion. It was a pity that Severus and a few fine, up-standing, young, pureblood wizards had to die for it to happen but sacrifices had to be made for the Greater Good. It turned out that Gellert had been right about that as he was about so many other things.

Perhaps he should take in the sights of Germany on his enforced vacation. It would be good to see the dark, lofty spires of Nurmengard again. And if he visited a certain, grim, forgotten cell and ran into his old lover again? Well that at least might allow him to have some intelligent conversation on his trip. Intelligent conversation that, if he could convince the former 'Dark Lord' to join him, could lead to that Greater Good that they had pursued for all of those years in their youth.

Allies, once again, Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindlewald in their great endeavour of a better World for 'decent' wizards. Their methods may have differed in the past but their dream remained unchanged.

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